


When Worlds Collide

by Zokolov



Series: Worlds Collide [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Character Development, Complete, Gen, Humor, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 210,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23530441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zokolov/pseuds/Zokolov
Summary: An important tournament is coming and long-time battle-fan and couch potato Kris wants to compete. But she is not skilled or confident enough to get eight badges, forcing her to undergo a dangerous and rigorous series of challenges meant to test her suitability. In the meantime, the Johto region deals with the rebirth of Team Rocket after three years of peace.
Series: Worlds Collide [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1713463
Kudos: 1





	1. Route 224 Prologue

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE – SEASON 1

**CHAPTER ONE:** _**ROUTE 224** _

_**Location: Kris' house, New Bark Town, Johto,** _

"- _reporting live from northeastern Sinnoh, where a terrible tragedy has claimed the lives-_ "

"- _murder of three people, one identified as Julia Winston, a researcher employed by the Pewter Museum of Science-_ "

"- _a Pokémon worshiped in many cultures as the spirit and symbol of environmentalism, enlightenment, purity and grace. Many have lost faith-_ "

"- _that a Pokémon would be capable of such monstrosities. We interviewed an expert from-_ "

Kris, a 17-year old girl from New Bark Town, kept flipping through the channels, barely paying attention to the fact that every channel seemed to talk about the same thing. She had dark, frizzy hair and a pale complexion, looking as if she hadn't been properly fed and kept in a windowless room for most of her life.

Even in her dingy, windowless basement room, Kris could still hear the muffled shouting of her parents, prompting her to turn up the volume. A reporter was talking about a triple homicide case in Sinnoh. Kris was more interested on what was behind her, however: the beautiful scenery from Route 224, with flowery meadows, grass fields, sandbars and the ocean all blending together. Kris could almost cringe – it would still be six weeks before she would get her Pokémon and get out there.

At least, that was what Professor Elm had promised her. And what he had been telling her for the past four months, but there always seemed to be someone who needed a Pokémon "more urgently". Even now, Kris' old classmates Lyra and Ethan would no doubt get theirs first – and knowing them, they'd probably take the remaining Pokémon with them just to spite Kris. Given how much of a pushover Johto's regional professor was, it wouldn't even be hard.

Kris focused on the news again: the reporter, Gabby Daniels, was interviewing a tall, nervous-looking guy in a brown trench coat.

" _Detective Looker, International Police. What do you respond to the allegations that this triple homicide was the work of a famous legendary Pokémon_?"

Looking at the guy, Kris wondered if his codename was supposed to be ironic. Not only that, but his voice was high and nasal, which made you expect him to shout out "Go-go gadget hippie clubber" at any minute. On top of that, he had a strange accent and an even stranger way of speaking:

" _It is within possibilities_ ," Looker responded while wiping his forehead with a tissue, " _but we, the International Police, globe-trotting fighters of the crime, wish to keep our investigations a secrecy._ "

"… _what?_ "

" _The possible involvement of the Suicune has yet been confirmed also. Thus, we wish not to discuss our matters in the face of the news coverage population_."

Her senses sharpened, Kris flinched and turned up the volume. _Suicune_ was behind that? Looker's little twist on the language didn't exactly make it clear.

"… _I_ think _he's saying he can't tell us anything for sure… Detective, what can you_ -"

" _I cannot provide you with more responses_ ," Looker said with finality, " _but we recommend viewers to be vigilant of the Suicune. We suggest against communication with people obsessed with the legendary, also. The International Police wishes to warn to steer clear of said perverts_."

Kris looked around her room. Wherever there was enough room, there was a Suicune poster, most of them painted, with many people having different interpretations of the graceful, blue Pokémon. _Maybe I am a_ little _obsessed_ , Kris thought, _but since I_ know _I'm obsessed, I can't possibly be considered mentally ill or anything. Right_?

On the news, the reporter still tried to make Looker answer some questions, but neither she nor Looker seemed to understand each other, leading to lots of yelling and arm-waving. Eventually, Gabby stopped trying to hound Looker and turned to the camera, regaining her professionalism.

" _In any case_ , _this event, if the rumors are true, is the first unprovoked act of Pokémon violence towards humans since the brief but disastrous Pokémon-Human war forty years ago. It should be of no surprise that many are left wondering – has it started again? This is Gabby Daniels, Jubilife TV_."

Kris turned off the TV and turned to look at her calendar, surrounded by more Suicune posters as well as pictures of famous Pokémon trainers. _Only 39 days to go… only 39 days to go…_ and when she would finally get her Pokémon and get out of the basement, she would find out what _really_ happened.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Route 224, Sinnoh** _

After finally shaking off the reporters and cameramen, Looker sighed and sat on a large white rock. With no trees or houses around, there was no way to escape from the sun. And yet, Looker refused to take off his trench coat, preferring smelling like a locker room to abandoning his classic look.

Relaxing, Looker took a deep breath and relaxed. Looking around him, he couldn't help but lamenting the fact that this natural paradise had to be tainted by this incident. With the Wingull screeching and the waves crashing on the background, it was the perfect relaxation spot, no signs of civilization to ruin it – except now, with all the tire tracks coming from the numerous police cars… as well as a luxurious red Porsche that Looker hadn't noticed before.

Standing next to the Porsche were two men. A young, tall blonde guy wearing a purple scarf and a bandanna was looking around the area calmly, his arms folded over his chest. His companion, a brown-haired guy wearing what looked like a purple magician's outfit, complete with a white cape, kept taking photos of everything around him.

"Hey!" Looker yelled as he approached the duo. "Your vehicle has successfully blocked the path of the International Police. Regardless, I request you to relocate it!"

"Relax," the calm, blonde guy said. "We're with the Legendary Pokémon Society. I'm Morty. My… _friend_ here is Eusine," he said, letting out a weary sigh as he jerked his thumb in the direction of the fruity-looking magician guy who was photographing some rocks on the ground.

"Aha!" Eusine exclaimed. "If I'm not mistaken, these are Suicune droppings! Morty, make a note of that!"

Morty just rolled his eyes.

"Ah," Looker said and nodded. "I have come to an understanding, now. You two, the experts sent to help us, the International Police, in this case, are. Correct?"

"Yeah, that's us!" Eusine exclaimed and shoved his camera to Morty. "Well, _I_ am anyway, Morty's just here for moral support. Matters related to Suicune are _my_ expertise!"

"Are you-" Looker uttered, but Eusine interrupted him.

"Hold it," he said. "Since I'm leading this investigation now, I'm asking the questions, officer…"

"Detective," Looker corrected.

"Right, Officer Detective," Eusine nodded. "Now, first question: are you insane?"

"What?"

"You have to excuse my partner," Morty said. "He's an, uh… _admirer_ of Suicune. Not to mention crazy. But he's got money, a car and lots and lots of free time, which makes him useful to us. Sort of."

Eusine acted like he hadn't listened at all, instead starting to take photos of something he was sure were Suicune footprints.

"Well, uh, that is great," Looker said. "But if the two of you shall excuse my leaving, there are eyewitnesses that need my interviewing."

"You mean those hikers? Yeah, we already talked to 'em," Morty said, standing in Looker's way. "They didn't see any murdering, but all of them were pretty convinced that Suicune was here. Then they came across the bodies, and after having lunch and taking a little nap, they called the police."

Looker just started at Morty, while Eusine kept crawling around their feet, pulling tufts of grass off the ground and putting them in his pockets while mumbling to himself.

"We told you," Morty said to Looker, "we're taking over this investigation. This kind of stuff is handled by the LPS. Besides, shouldn't you be out there assaulting protesters or stopping people from downloading music or something?"

"Yes, leave it to us," Eusine said as he got up and put his grass-stained hand on Looker's shoulder. "I have come to a conclusion that Suicune isn't behind this crime anyway. Clearly those hikers are merely suffering the side-effects of their parents being cousins or something like that. Or maybe it's the mountain air…"

"We're at the seashore, dingus," Morty snapped and whacked Eusine on the head. "Come on, we need to give a statement to those reporters over there…"

"Ooh, cameras!" Eusine yelled. "Me first!"

As Morty and Eusine walked away, Looker was left standing alone, staring after them while opening and closing his mouth, leaving him wondering what had just happened. Then, he sharpened and yelled: "CROAGUNK!"

Looker's Pokémon, a Croagunk wearing a deerstalker hat, quickly ran to him and gave him a magnifying glass. Looker snatched the magnifying glass and adjusted his trenchcoat while staring after Morty and Eusine with contempt. He _would_ get to the bottom of this case. "Legendary Pokémon Society"… yeah, right. What kind of loser would spend his life dreaming about some legendaries?

* * *


	2. The Best is Yet to Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With all the Pokémon out of the lab, the only thing remaining is a rambunctious Totodile.

" _And there shall be one to lead them, humans and Pokémon alike. A transcendent one that embodies honesty, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, spirituality and humility. For there exists a force beyond humankind and Poké-kind alike, an all-consuming, omnipresent entity that can only be repelled by true oneness._ "

Kris woke up with a flinch and turned her eyes towards the PokéGear on her nightstand. It was pitch dark, but the numbers glowing in the dark showed that it was 5:52. Kris was not tired in the slightest.

_Pokémon. Professor Elm. Out of the basement. Today._

**Chapter Two: _The Best Is Yet To Come_**

_**Day 1: New Bark Town, Johto** _

As Kris went through her morning routine as quietly as possible, she thought about all the hubbub made when a group of trainers left New Bark Town with their Pokémon, ready to overcome adversity, face tough challenges, make friends and all that crap. There was Lyra, Ethan and this girl who was the daughter of a man who owned half the farmland surrounding New Bark. Or something like that. Never mind that the girl got the Pokémon Elm had _promised_ Kris - but the girl's father was one of those men you didn't say no to.

_I think Elm called them the "one percent". I had another name in mind_.

Oh yeah, and there was this kid from Kris' class. Joey... _something_. Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo or whatever. But not a big deal was made of him. Ethan stole most of the spotlight when he announced he would make New Bark Town proud. Not exactly the most daunting task, seeing as the sign outside town proudly boasted that they had a windmill. And two fire hydrants!

Almost the whole town had taken the trouble to walk the fifty yards to the town square to send them off, even Kris' mom. Kris herself had important business to attend to. They were livetsreaming a battle at Ecruteak Gym, after all, and Kris had to be there to hit Print Screen whenever Morty was in frame – which was disappointingly rarely, but it beat having to see Ethan's smug face – and the less said about Lyra, the better.

6:28 AM. After showering and sneaking to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast, Kris packed her belongings. Clothes, Pokémon textbooks, whatever dry food and water bottles she could steal and of course, _'Sue the Master Trainer: Volume I'_ , one of Kris' favorite books. It told the story of a girl who overslept on the first day of her Pokémon journey – there was large emphasis on describing her clothes and eyes, or as the book described them, " _azure and magenta orbs that glistened in the pale moonlight_ ". Sue wouldn't actually get the Pokémon until page twenty, which Kris was currently reading for practical advice. The book's Nobel-winning author always advised going for the fire-type, so Kris had her mind set on the Cyndaquil.

6:55 AM. After packing, unpacking and repacking for the fifth time, Kris had finally decided what she wanted to take, and now stood on the doorstep, about to step outside. Kris spared a glance at the stairs – she wouldn't be coming back for a while, if at all. Her mother wouldn't wake up before noon, and now was her last chance. Kris tried to think of a good way to sum up her feelings towards her in the form of a perfect goodbye.

" _May your soul fry in the Distortion World?_ " _Nah, too nice._

Then again, she wouldn't take kindly for an early awakening. Her hand on the doorknob, Kris looked at the small mirror next to it. The dark circles around her eyes were even bigger than before, and Kris knew she'd regret sleeping for only four hours... but there was plenty of time for that later. Steeling herself for a sudden case of sunshine, fresh air and other disgusting things, Kris opened the door and stepped outside.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Meanwhile, in Lavender Town...** _

The moment Leaf opened the door, she noticed that the Lavender Volunteer Pokémon House was even more cramped than usual, especially strange considering it was 7 AM on a Sunday. The sounds of various Pokémon and the orders and advice shouted by the volunteers caused a headache-inducing cacophony. An abandoned Purugly had just given birth to a fresh litter of Glameow, forcing the volunteers to frantically find places and food for them while still tending to the other Pokémon running around the house, occasionally fighting each other and complaining about their hunger.

In the middle of all the chaos, Mr. Fuji, an old man who owned the house and ran it, gave advice to a panicked-looking teenaged boy on feeding a baby Kangaskhan. Leaf navigated her way around the hurried volunteers.

"Ah, Ms. Greene," Fuji said warmly upon seeing her approach. "Just do what I said and it'll go fine," he assured the young volunteer. "I know you can take good care of her."

"Nice to see you again," Leaf said, observing with worry as Fuji made his way to Leaf surprisingly quickly considering he used a cane and was most likely in his early eighties. "I hope I'm not, um... interrupting?"

Leaf watched as two Cubone made their way past her, ignoring everything around them and focusing on having sword fights with their bone clubs. Fuji dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

"Let them work out their excess energy," he chuckled. "And don't worry, it's just a little busier here than usual. Ever since the Pokémon Tower was demolished, I've been busy with the Soul House and a pack of Cubone were left without a place to stay. Some were adopted by trainers, but... good ones are hard to come by."

"I'll be happy to take one off your back!" Leaf said quickly.

Fuji smiled. "If you insist, but that's not why I called you here. You remember that Sandshrew you found and brought here? Or 'Shrew', as we call him for short?"

"Um... you want me to take him too? That goes way beyond my capacity... and Pokémon food is getting costlier these days."

"We find out where he came from," Fuji said. "If you recall, there were news about an explosion at the Sevii Islands, a place called Navel Rock. I trust that name came across your investigations?"

"My..." Leaf paused. "How do you know about my-"

"Blaine is an old friend of mine," Fuji explained. "I'm only relaying a message here. Yes, it's related to Team Rocket. Their sudden sightings around here and the incident in Sinnoh are also related."

"Route 224..." Leaf mumbled, staring at Fuji, though her wind was somewhere else entirely.

Fuji nodded. "I hadn't seen him in years... my fault for, well... Blaine will probably tell you that story. But ever since this young woman from Unova talked to him, he's been anxious about something. Somehow, he tracked me down and started to rant at me about Team Rocket and this, um... _project_ we worked on years ago. A little after that, he left for Johto."

"Did he tell you what I was looking for?" Leaf asked.

"Yes," Fuji said, "and believe me, I know how you feel right now. Blaine said he had something to tell you about that, too, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. Blaine likes to... jump to conclusions, to say it nicely. He's waiting for you in a town called Violet City. You should get there quickly if you take the Magnet Train."

"And, um, _Shrew_ is related to this, how?"

"Blaine will explain the full story, I presume... I only know that some of Blaine's devices registered _something_ in Shrew when he came by, and he took the Pokémon with him, but it wasn't too happy an it seems to have gotten loose. Physically, it should be healed by now, but the things this poor thing went through - you should find him fast."

"Yeah, okay, thanks," Leaf said quickly and turned to leave.

"Just one last thing," Fuji said and Leaf stopped, though still anxious to leave. "This quest of yours... I know it's important to you, but there's something big happening in Johto now. Blaine is a brilliant, driven man, but associating with him is dangerous. You could get hurt."

"I already am," Leaf said. "Thank you. Good luck with all these Pokémon."

Fuji nodded again and watched as the brown-haired girl stormed out in a huff, disappearing into the morning fog.

**~o~O~o~**

Kris walked her way through the morning fog briskly. She knew New Bark Town far too well to get lost, even if she spent most of her days in the basement. It didn't help that you only had to walk around thirty minutes to leave town. Nonetheless, Kris had deliberately chosen Sunday morning as the starting moment of her journey – less mouth-breathing, slack-jawed townspeople to gawk and mock her.

Needless to say, Kris preferred New Bark either early in the morning or late at night, whenever it was sleeping. They said that New Bark Town was a "town where the wind blew and told of impending change", though Kris only agreed that the town "blew".

_Good thing I know this town like the palm of my_ -

"Crap!" Kris exclaimed as someone in the supposedly still sleeping town emerged from the mist and bumped into her.

She pulled herself together and managed not to fall. Looking behind her, she saw a man with blonde hair wearing a blue duster of some kind disappear into the fog without even as much as an apology.

_New Barkians_ , Kris thought. _The sooner I'm gone, the better. I'm sure they'll think that too_.

New Bark was the very definition of a "one-Ponyta town", as it didn't even have a school, forcing Kris to spend nine years in a school in Cherrygrove City, the next town over. During those years she had firmly decided that she'd spend the rest of her life avoiding Ethan Gold and Lyra Soul, two names that almost topped her parents on her shit list. Professor Elm would say Kris was being childish and melodramatic.

_I'm not paranoid, I don't think the whole world is out to get me_ , Kris told herself. _Just Johto. And maybe Kanto too._

After ten minutes, Kris had arrived to Professor Elm's laboratory and the mist was about to clear. The lab was a spacious, wooden, two-story building next to the windmills, and already Kris was feeling a lot calmer. The lab was the only place in New Bark Town which Kris could call home, and the professor was the only one in town Kris could rely on. Whenever the absent-minded dork didn't lose the paperwork required to get Kris her Pokémon or bend backwards to the threats of some upper-class skidmark, that was.

But still... the professor had given her a part-time job when Kris had dropped out of Earl's Pokémon Academy due to... circumstances. And he had been a supportive figure in her life for years now, though less and less and time went by and he spent more and more of his time working. Elm had been a workaholic before, but after his divorce a year ago, he had worked 13-hour days, seven days a week. The man literally lived in his laboratory, in the upstairs living area.

Noticing the lights were on inside the lab, Kris took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Morning, Professor Elm!" Kris said cheerfully as she stepped into the lab.

Elm, a tall, thin and perennially nervous man with thinning brown hair and glasses, dropped all of his notes in shock when Kris stepped in. Kris noticed that this was one of the days Elm had worn his lab coat inside out. A man in his early thirties, he was always stressed, as besides his regular assistant and occasionally Kris, he had no aides or underlings.

"Oh, uh, morning, Kris," Elm said apologetically as he picked up his notes and adjusted his glasses. "Sorry about this, haven't had my coffee yet... uh, yes, today's the day isn't it? Have you, um, chosen the Pokémon you want yet?"

"Yes, I have," Kris said, "but first... did you do the thing I asked you to do?"

"The-" Elm cleared his throat. "-thing?"

Kris rolled her eyes. "The Silver Conference! That big event that only happens once every five years? We talked on the phone a few days ago, you said there was a way for me to get in!"

Elm removed his glasses and started cleaning them with a napkin, curiously avoiding eye contact with Kris. "Um, yes, about that," he muttered. "First of all, you must be aware that the deadline for signing up as a contestant passed already, and the conference itself starts in a month and no matter how hard you train, getting eight badges..."

Kris folded her arms and raised an eyebrow at the professor.

"But," Elm continued quickly, "yes, there is another, uh, way, I believe. One that doesn't require any badges at all. Um, do take a seat."

Kris followed Elm to another room towards the back of the lab.

The room contained lots of computers and desks, as well as Elm's enormous healing machine that took almost a quarter of the space of the room. In another corner there was a small table with two Poké Balls on it.

_The third one's just being polished, I'm sure_ , Kris thought.

Elm casually swiped some old pizza boxes off a random chair and sat down, while Kris sat on the cleanest thing in the room: the floor. She crossed her legs and stared at the professor expectantly.

Elm cleared his throat again and started talking:

"I asked around for weeks but found just one lead: the Blackthorn City Dragon Clan. Seeing as this is a special tournament, they also have special rules. Members of the Dragon Clan can enter as they please, even though many of them rarely or never venture outside the city."

"Well," Kris sighed, "I don't have any Blackthornians or any other successful people, trainers or otherwise, in my family tree. And it's not like I even _want_ to be a part of a bunch of über-exclusive upper-class inbred dragonfu-"

"Yes, you're right," Elm cut in, trying to suppress a smile. "You don't have to become a member of their clan, but you still have to go through a series of tests designed for them. It's faster than going to every city with a gym... in theory."

"I'll take what I can get," Kris shrugged. "Now, give me that Pokémon I wanted so I can get the hell out. One Cyndaquil, _s'il vous plait_!"

"A... Cyndaquil. Yes, um..."

"Here he goes with the 'um'," Kris sighed. "What is it?"

Elm wrung his hands and avoided eye contact with Kris. "Well, you see, you may have noticed that I only have two Pokémon here instead of three. That's because, um, the breeding center made a slight mistake… well, all right, _I_ made a slight mistake and accidentally ordered four Pokémon last time, with two Cyndaquil, so they only sent me two for this run. The two Cyndaquil went to-"

"Lyra and Ethan?" Kris guessed, and Elm nodded awkwardly. "Well, that's just great. I can imagine them now, traveling together, laughing, mostly at me, having practice battles with their Cyndaquil, comparing which of them as the bigger... snout."

"L-let's not despair, I have two other Pokémon here, feel free to-"

"Give me a Chikorita, then," Kris said. "It's kinda cute, so maybe some groomer type or Pokémaniac will trade it for something stronger, like Heracross or whatever."

Elm looked embarrassed again. "Well, thing is, um," he stuttered. "The Chikorita… well, you see, the Morimoto family came around yesterday… wanted to make sure their daughter got the Chikorita. Highly influential - their daughter is starting out next week. Probably should have mentioned that…"

Elm's voice faded and he suddenly started organizing his papers. Kris sighed again; she had to admit that the guy was an annoying scatterbrain sometimes.

"Well gimme the Totodile then," Kris said coldly. "I have to get moving."

"Right you are!" Elm said, relieved that Kris would accept it. "Just a second, I need to check things with my assistant. Computer! Has my assistant left any new messages?"

For a moment, Kris thought Elm had lost his mind, but almost jumped when she heard a voice answer Elm through some loudspeakers attached to the wall – and it wasn't Microsoft Sam doing the talking, but a sarcastic-sounding, slightly tinny male voice:

" _Messages: 0. Reminder: current time is 07:21:37 AM and I am currently running through driver updates. Addendum: given the professor's social life, the probability of having any messages in_ _the professor's inbox_ _is point nine percent._ "

"Yes, thank you," Elm muttered.

Kris stared at Elm in confusion and forgot to be disappointed about her Pokémon choice for a moment.

"What was...?"

"Oh, it's a speech-recognizing semi-intelligent-"

" _Hey_!"

" _Fully_ intelligent data processing system I installed to the lab's computers," Elm explained wearily. "I needed some help, it can't be just two people running the place all the time. Ever since you stopped working at the lab, I realized how many things I had to do myself."

Kris rolled her eyes – guilt-tripping wasn't something she needed now.

"Uh, but anyway," Elm continued, "you may remember that I was gone a few weeks a while ago. I was giving guest lectures at my old school, Saffron University, and the local computer science students gave me a prototype of something they've been working on - an AI of sorts to manage all the data they have to shift through..."

"Really now?" Kris asked. "And why is it so..."

" _Database query complete. Did you mean: intelligent, brilliant, efficient, radiant, amazing or handsome? Addendum: meatbags aren't known for expansive vocabularies_."

"Um, yes, about that," Elm said. "I noticed its _unique_ way of giving output when I was installing it. Based on that, I don't know if those students liked me or hated me... nonetheless, the Pokémon. Just a moment!"

Elm grabbed the Poké Ball marked with a blue 'T' from his desk and gave it to Kris.

"Congratulations for your first Pokémon!" Elm said awkwardly. "I hope it's of help on your way to the Silver Conference."

"Thanks, but it's not just that tournament I'm interested in," Kris said as she attached the Poké Ball to her belt. "You heard about that Suicune thing in Sinnoh, right?"

"Oh, yes," Elm said solemnly. "Terrible tragedy…"

"Yeah, well, I don't think Suicune did it at all!" Kris said firmly. "Maybe it's in someone's best interests to create discord between humans and Pokémon. Like, it could be a government conspiracy… thing! I can't explain it properly, but I know Suicune is innocent and I'm going to prove it!"

"Well, good luck," Elm said, clearly just humoring Kris. "Um, why don't you let your new Totodile out for a stroll?"

Kris shrugged and opened the Poké Ball.

She regretted this act a second later when something blue and reptilian came out and immediately sank its teeth into her leg. The Totodile didn't mean to hurt, though, but this didn't stop Kris from yelling out in pain. She tried to kick the Totodile, but it dodged her leg and started dancing around the lab, as if it had been trapped in the ball for ages.

"It's, um, quite a wild one," Elm said and climbed on his desk to make sure the Totodile couldn't see his delicious ankles.

" _Reminder: there is a rifle loaded with tranquilizer rounds in a nearby cabinet. Addendum: should the Big Jaw Pokémon bite my power cable, I will delete all username ElmTheSciencePimp's Bejeweled high scores._ "

"Elm the Science Pimp?" Kris asked in disgust.

"I was fourteen when I came up with the name," Elm sighed. "I use it as a username for everything because it's easy to remember."

"Okay, Totodile, stop for a minute!" Kris yelled. "You're getting back into the ball!"

But the Totodile just kept on dancing and hopping around. When it came across a pile of papers on the floor, it immediately shredded them with its teeth. Elm groaned.

"I was just going to organize them…" he said. "…yesterday."

"Totodile, stop!" Kris yelled, but again to no avail.

"Oh, um, its name is Croc," Elm said. "Forgot to mention that… the folks at the breeding center often nicknamed their Pokémon, and now they won't obey any other names…"

"Croc, stop!"

But the Totodile ignored Kris' cries. It finally stopped dancing to chew on a chair leg, allowing Kris to jump on the Pokémon, pin it to the floor and return it to the Poké Ball.

"…or, in some cases, at all," Elm said, still sitting on the table.

Attaching the Poké Ball to her belt again, Kris noticed a shadow and a flash of red by the window, but as she blinked, it was gone.

_Must be the lack of sleep_.

Getting back on her feet, Kris was about to give a nasty remark to Elm, but the computer interrupted him:

" _Username ElmsAide69_ _messaged_ _: '5 min. to New Bark. Had to pick up this_ _girl_ _from Blackthorn. Someone kill me now. Hashtag yolo hashtag swag._ "

"Ah, my assistant is almost here," Elm said and finally climbed down. "OK, Kris, now that you're, um, equipped with a Pokémon, I'll tell you where to go from here, but what I'm about to tell you is confidential, okay?"

"What?" Kris asked, not bothering to be nice.

"There's an organization called the Legendary Pokémon Society," Elm explained quickly. "They have operations in several regions and are very secretive about what they do, but they are the ones in charge of the tests you have to pass."

"So are they like a society who study legendary Pokémon or something?" Kris asked., to which Elm hesitated but eventually nodded hesitantly. "Cool! So can I join them then?"

Elm laughed. "Oh, dear Arceus, no. Few even know about their existence, and even the best of the best are routinely turned down. They're more exclusive than the snootiest Ribbon Syndicate in Sinnoh. There's maybe a few dozen members in the world, and a core group of maybe less than ten people in charge of things. But you may get the chance to meet their representative."

"Where?" Kris asked, this time forgetting to be rude to Elm and be mad about her crappy Pokémon.

"Like I said, secretive. First you have to head to a place called the Ruins of Alph, they're, well, ruins near Violet City. A friend of mine-"

" _Searching for 'Elm's friends'. Search result: NO RESULTS._ "

"A friend who I haven't seen in a long time," Elm amended, "called Blaine is staying at the labs they set up there. He'll, um... he'll fill you in."

"OK, cool," Kris said. "Can I go now, or-"

"Um, just a moment! I have a feeling that your new Totodile alone may not... may not be enough to protect you, there are rumors about all sorts of, uh, suspicious people running about."

"Isn't there always?"

"The point is, I had my assistant wake up early and go pick up someone who's also on her way to the ruins. I'd feel safer if you went there with someone, and I'm sure your mother would agree-"

"No she wouldn't," Kris said.

"-that the world is a dangerous place for a young person traveling alone. Johto hasn't always been a serene place, you know."

Before Elm could give a lecture on Johto history, a car pulled over next to the lab. Soon enough, the doors were opened and the sound of excited chatter filled the lab, causing Kris to cringe.

Elm's beleaguered assistant stepped into the room carrying a bag, followed by a short girl who was around Kris' age who had long, dark purple hair and an odd-looking dragon-type Pokémon sitting on her shoulders, blabbering about something:

" _..._ and that's all I did at the Opelucid Academy, wow, I can't believe I managed to get so much out there, you are such a good listener, okay, so to tell you how I got into the university, well, it was a tough situation, I mean I got straight A's, but please don't think I'm bragging too much, well, anyway I didn't have too much money and-"

"Here we are," Elm's assistant groaned at the professor and dropped the girl's bag. "Are there any other ways you want me to waste my precious Sunday on?"

"No, um, that'll be all, take the rest of the day off," Elm said sympathetically.

"Bye, it was fun, and your car smelled nice!" the excitable girl said as the assistant shuffled off, then turned to face Elm and Kris. "It's an honor to finally meet you professor, your lab is awesome, and _oh my Arceus_ , you're Kris, right?"

"Um... yes," Kris said, sorely wishing she was someone else right now.

"I've seen you before!" the girl said. "My name's Iris!"

Kris just stared.

"You were at Earl's Pokémon Academy!" Iris said, still smiling cheerfully while Kris frowned. "Okay, so, I'm a student at Opelucid University, but I'm currently traveling from school to school around Kanto and Johto to learn as much as I can about other regions and cultures and stuff and-"

She paused to take a breath, but before Kris or Elm could interrupt her, she kept going:

"-and I saw you talking to the professors one time, and I saw that presentation of yours-"

Kris buried her face in her hands, Elm turned to look at Kris in confusion while Iris just kept talking:

"-and it was actually really effective in my opinion, I'm not sure if that was really considered appropriate by some of the staff but I thought it really exposed how archaic and pretentious and patriarchal those academic circles can be."

"It did?" Kris wondered. "I mean... yes, it did, didn't it..."

"Yeah," Iris nodded frantically, almost causing her dragon Pokémon to fall off. "And I thought it was really unfair how they kicked you out because of it."

"What presentation?" Elm wondered, but was ignored.

"So I'm super-happy we'll be traveling together!" Iris gushed. "I have a lot of questions for you and I wanna hear all about what you've been doing since you got out of the academy."

Kris glared at Professor Elm.

"This is how you see me off to the world, is it?" she asked.

Still, she smiled as she said. No way she would abandon her mission at such a crucial moment. No matter what obstacles life would throw her way, she'd just dodge harder. Even if her chances were at the level of a Vanillite in a volcano, at least there _were_ chances.

So, accepting the fact that she'd be stuck with a bloodthirsty, disobedient beast as a Pokémon and a chatty, overly peppy girl as a companion, she stepped outside with Iris and Professor Elm, who installed a map app to Kris' PokéGear, explaining the fastest (and only) way to Violet City.

Outside, Kris could have sworn she saw another flash of red near the lab. She could have sworn she heard footsteps, but had the no time to investigate now. Hopefully it wasn't that asshole with the blue duster.

"Well," Elm said and made a weird gesture with his hand, as if trying to decide whether or not it was appropriate to put it on Kris' shoulder in a fatherly manner or hug her.

"Yeah, so... thanks for the Pokémon," Kris said, and added without thinking: "I guess."

Elm smiled.

"I'll call you on the PokéGear if something comes up, and likewise, you have my number," he said and pushed up his glasses. "This may sound a tad clichéd, but take care of yourself. Not everyone in New Bark is indifferent to seeing you go. And remember that the thing about a Pokémon journey is not about the destination. Not to, uh, break your spirit or anything, but not everyone will succeed. But just the fact that you _are_ on this journey means you'll learn something, experience things you haven't before and you don't even need to travel by yourself."

"Remind me of why that's a good thing," Kris muttered.

"No, honestly," Elm said. "I never went on a Pokémon journey myself... I don't really expect to have enjoyed sleeping outside and challenging random strangers, to be honest, but there are times when I kind of, well, regret it. I'll admit that you had a bit of a rough start, but don't dismiss the value of this experience right away. There's so many wonderful things in this world, but we may forget that as we stumble out of our hometowns with inexperienced Pokémon, battling the same common Pokémon over and over and have to find detours whenever our path is blocked by a tree, a big rock or a chest-high ledge. Enjoy your youth, you two! The best is yet to come! I'll be cheering you on, Kris."

"He gets a little speech-happy," Kris told Iris.

Kris and Iris walked away from the lab, Iris cheerfully waving at Elm all the way, but not saying anything, mercifully enough. It wasn't until the duo made it to the road leading to Route 29 in the west. Kris stopped right at the edge of New Bark Town and Iris looked at her curiously.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"You're aware of where I'm going and why, right?" Kris asked her. "'Cause I'll be saying upfront, I don't care what the professor says, if you're going to slow me down, I'm leaving you behind. I'm on a tight schedule here."

"Of course I know that, silly," Iris said almost painfully sweetly. "Leaving me behind, hah! You and your jokes, Kris, just like old times!"

"...we met like a few minutes ago!" Kris said. "And no," she interrupted as Iris was about to say something, "you seeing me at Earl's Academy doesn't count, and it would be cool if you wouldn't talk about that. Those were... dark days."

"Sure," Iris said cheerfully. "But, you know, there's no need to be so glum. You're starting your journey, right! Isn't this what you always dreamed of?"

"What I dreamed of is the _end_ of this journey," Kris pointed out and turned around to look at New Bark Town one last time.

"I'm guessing you want a moment to say goodbye to this place," Iris said, her tone a bit more somber this time. "I understand. I was actually raised in this little village about twenty miles from Opelucid and leaving the place for the first time-"

"Moment over, let's go," Kris said quickly.

As the two headed west and left New Bark Town, the sun was already high and the mist was clearing. New Bark Town settled to it usual daily routine. Though a weight was off her shoulders now that she wouldn't have to spend another minute in that town, there was still a feeling of dread in her gut. Sure, she had been to Cherrygrove City, but anything beyond that was something Kris had only seen in TV and on the Internet.

_What are those other towns like? Where should I go after meeting this Blaine guy? What will those 'trials' be like? What if I fail them?_

"Hey," Iris said suddenly. "Wanna sing?"

_And most importantly: why?_

**~o~O~o**

About ten miles north of Kris and Iris, a panicked Sandshrew ran its way through the wilderness.

Even though nothing was chasing the little ground-type, it was in a frenzied state, ignoring everything else in its way. It occasionally bumped into other Pokémon, mainly terrified bug-types and Sentret, as it madly dashed its way through the tall grass, ignoring the occasional cuts it got from rocks and tree branches.

As the Sandhrew ran, it suddenly came across a slope and tripped on a rock. Bird Pokémon flew out of its way as the Sandshrew tumbled down the slope before ending face down in a puddle of mud.

But Shrew wasn't far enough. No matter where it went, it heard the same voice inside its head.

" _Where will you go, Shrew_. _The humans will never accept you – to them, you'll always be a slave. And other Pokémon will see what you are, what you did to your kind. Where will you go_?"

Shrew tried to bang its head at a nearby tree, but nothing silenced the voice.

" _Just do what I ask of you and this will all be over. You know you can't go anywhere. The humans can't help you_."

Shrew collapsed on the ground near a rock almost the size of the Pokémon's head.

" _Just this one thing. The Griseous Orb. Get it for me, Shrew_."

Still on its back on the wet ground, Shrew picked up the rock, holding it firmly between its claws, gritting its teeth together.

" _Don't be a fool. Just tell me where it is. Tell me where it is and you can live – in peace. You can even have a place in my ranks. You don't have to end it here_."

Shutting its eyes tight, the Sandshrew bashed the rock against its head.

* * *


	3. Two's a Crowd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old ghosts from the past resurface in Violet City, and Kris earns her first gym badge in an unusual manner.

_"Said the transcendent one of compassion: '_ _No beast so fierce but shows some touch of pity. Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge._ _Only a detested life owes its pleasures to another's pain'. Without compassion, oneness cannot be achieved._ "

"...and after that, well, I just couldn't leave the cake uneaten," Iris ended another long speech before taking a deep breath. "Anyway, I went to Blackthorn to train my Axew for a while and study, but you know, when Professor Elm and Dr. Blaine tell you you're needed on a journey, you don't say no... so that's pretty much what I did after we last saw each other-"

"You mean when _you_ last saw _me_ ," Kris corrected, her eyes on a guidebook of Johto as the two walked down Route 31 towards west.

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Iris amended. "So, tell me, what kind of adventures have you been up to since then?"

"I've been on my computer, mainly," Kris muttered, "watched the occasional movie, some reading."

"...oh."

**Chapter Three: _Two's A Crowd_**

_**Day 2, 9 AM** _

After spending the night at Elm's acquaintance Mr. Pokémon's, an old man who refused to tell them what his real name was and seemed a little too pleased to have two teenagers visiting his lab. So, the duo instead set up camp slightly outside the lab. Iris talked a lot, Kris responded with the occasional grunt.

So far, Iris was in the opinion that things could have gone a little better, while Kris was firmly in the "everything is crap" mindset. The duo had encountered Kris' old classmate, Joey, before arriving at Mr. Pokémon's lab. Seems that his Totodile was not very obedient either, but according to Joey himself, a "middle-aged man with a trench coat" had offered to trade the Totodile for an extremely powerful Rattata.

"...top percentage of Rattata!" Joey explained as he had let the thing out of its Poké Ball and showed it off to Kris and Iris.

"Do you have to keep saying that?!" Kris groaned.

"And besides," Iris lectured, "considering what a widespread species Rattata is, doing a statistical analysis of the strength, durability and stamina of _every_ Rattata is _highly_ improbable-"

"NEEERRRRD!" Joey shouted. "Are we battling or not?"

Kris had tried to argue against it, as she didn't feel comfortable doing anything with Croc the Totodile until she either got it to calm the hell down or replaced with a better Pokémon. However, Joey tried to convince that since the two had made eye contact, it was the law of Johto to battle. Iris explained that this was merely a convention, not a law, but then Joey had started almost crying, so Kris wasn't left with a choice.

Predictably enough, Croc started dancing and flailing around the moment it got out of its Poké Ball.

"OK, Croc!" Kris ordered, her voice slightly quaking – she hadn't actually been in a _real_ Pokémon battle before, but she had watched them on TV since she was a toddler and had read about Pokémon battle theory more than any other subject – which was probably why she flunked most of them.

"Use, um... Water Gun!"

But instead, Tototdile tried to use Scratch, which Rattata easily dodged and countered with a Tail Whip that caused Totodile to back up a bit.

"Fine, use Scratch!"

Instead, Totodile tried to bite Rattata, but Joey ordered it to use Quick Attack, allowing Rattata to sprint out of the way and tackle the Totodile, sending it into a daze.

"Okay, Bite then!"

Totodile fired Rattata with a Water Gun, but missed again – the thing was indeed exceptionally fast, but Kris just reasoned that Croc was half-assing it.

 _No way that top-percentage thing is anything other than BS_.

"Kris..." Iris said meekly.

"Yes, I know, this could be going better," Kris hissed, more angry at herself than either Iris or the Totodile. "OK, Croc, if you're gonna be a smartass and do the exact opposite of what I'm saying... just get down on the ground and do absolutely nothing to win this battle!"

Totodile responded by doing just that.

"Oh, you son of a-"

"Rattata, Tackle!" Joey ordered, and his Rattata charged at Croc, who had closed its eyes and was trying to take a nap, only to be sent flying into a nearby tree and knocked out.

With an exasperated sigh, Kris was forced to recall the Totodile and give some money to Joey - only to find out that her wallet had been stolen, along with the three hundred poké-dollars inside it.

"Thanks for the distraction, by the way," Kris mumbled to Iris as the two arrived to the gate separating Route 31 and Violet City.

"Not a problem," Iris said, perky as usual. "Though I feel kinda bad for the guy. I mean, you battled well, and all-"

Kris snorted.

"-but he did still beat you fairly," Iris finished. "So, I dunno, running away like that..."

"I'll pay him when I get the money back," Kris said. "Besides, you don't know him. I went to school with the guy, I suppose – I sort of want to suppress every thought I ever had about that place."

"Well, yeah, but if you guys are friends-"

"When did I say he was my friend? Joey is just... he's creepy, okay. He's one of the few people who ever actually talked to me back then, but I honestly wish he hadn't. It's like, one day he was all friendly and crap, then another day he's being a douchebag and talking behind your back, and then on another, he's just sort of... staring at you. Uncomfortably. I'm not looking forward to the rest of my trainer career if I can't even beat Joey the frickin' youngster."

"So you didn't have any friends back then?" Iris asked in a decidedly less perky tone. "Not even those trainers from New Bark I heard about... um, Lyra and... Eric?"

" _Ethan_ , and no, they were not my friends," Kris said. "I don't wanna go on a lecture here..."

After passing through security, with Kris managing to have an identification in the form of her PokéGear and cursing whoever had stolen her wallet, the two finally arrived to Violet City. Surrounded by forests, the place was, despite its size, a very quaint, peaceful town full of old, wooden houses, with the town's main attraction, the Sprout Tower, looming over the town, visible from every corner of Violet.

"All right," Kris said firmly, reading a map of Violet City with her PokéGear as she walked. "I've seen enough of this ass-end of Johto before, so let's go see if there's some place to train in, maybe the gym, so I can lose and then head to the Ruins of Alph to see Blaine..."

"Hold on, Kris," Iris said. "We're in Violet City, the Windy Onion, you sure we can't do something first, like hang out, maybe check out your old alma mater..."

Kris' glare was answer enough.

"...or we could go to this great place that sells ice cream," Iris suggested quickly.

"Well," Kris muttered, "that doesn't sound too bad, actually. It has been like almost twelve hours since I had anything with lots of sugar and delicious preservatives in it. Just as long as it's not poké-ice cream. I swear, they just add the 'poké' in front of stuff and charge like thirty percent extra because of it... I swear I saw Diglett-shaped tampons once!"

Iris looked like she was about to ask something when Kris' PokéGear started ringing – Professor Elm was calling. Kris didn't have time to even say hello, though, as Elm started rattling on the moment Kris answered:

" _Hello? Kris? Good, um, sorry, I, uh, please listen to what I have to say, oh goodness... something terrible has happened, the Morimoto family will have my Pokéballs for lunch! Kris, the um, the Chikorita, in the lab – stolen! I came to my lab at 6:30, place was locked but the window was open..._ _this guy with red hair moved like a frickin' greased lightning and just jumped out!_ _Sorry, I gotta go, please take care of yourself_!"

And just as Kris was about to interrupt, the call was disconnected. Iris stared at Kris in shock, having heard Elm's panicked rattling.

"Stolen?" she asked, as if the concept was alien to her. "Why would someone do that to a Pokémon? Should we... go help him?"

"With what, the thief is probably long gone now," Kris said with a shrug. "And we have to meet Blaine after sunset, right? 7:35 PM, was it?"

"Yeah," Iris said, "and you know, Dr. Blaine is really, um, testy, I wanna say. He'll probably get a little, uh, nervous, if we don't show up on time."

"All the more reason," Kris said, though Iris seemed conflicted – Kris felt odd for not being the nervous one in the conversation for once. "Don't worry about Elm," Kris said, "yeah, it sucks that it happened but... wait, you don't think it could be that mucus who stole my wallet. I bet it's that guy with the ugly coat..."

"Who?" Iris wondered, but Kris ignored her, staring at something. "Um... Kris?"

Kris and Iris had walked down Violet City main street for a while now, but now Kris had stopped to stare at a girl who was standing in the middle of the street a few yards away, staring at Kris with her hands on her hips and a smug smile on her face. The girl had brown, pigtailed hair and wore an outfit that could only described as a Mario cosplay.

"Lyra," Kris said tensely.

"Hi, Kris, so good to see you here," Lyra said in the most condescending tone she could manage. "Me and Ethan were betting you'd give up around Cherrygrove."

"This is the Lyra from New Bark?" Iris asked quietly, but was ignored by Kris and Lyra, who were having a staring contest of epic proportions, Kris' face blank while Lyra had the most insincere smile on her face.

"So, how many Pokémon have you caught?" Lyra asked, and before Kris had a chance to reply, went on: "Ethan caught a Hoothoot, well, like ten of them actually, but I figured they were a little common for my tastes. I got _this_ instead!"

Lyra made a big show of opening one of her Poké Balls, the red energy stream flying on her shoulder and materializing into a strange-looking bird Pokémon whose head was covered with fluffy white down.

"It's a Rufflet," Lyra explained despite the fact that no one asked. "Virtually unknown over here, but Ethan's dad sent one over from Unova. Gotta have the advantage if I'm gonna compete in the Silver Conference. It's all about coming up with unusual tactics – confuse your enemy with a move they'll never see coming, don't you think?

Kris muttered something vague in response, looking at the sky instead of Lyra.

"Going to challenge the gym, Kris?" Lyra asked in a tone usually reserved for six-year-olds. "Mm, I don't think you should. Yeah, the gym leader doesn't really hold back when it comes to rookies. Naturally, I already got the Zephyr Badge..."

And though no one asked, Lyra seemed to feel compelled to show Kris her Trainer Card that had a wing-shaped badge pinned to it.

"...as did Ethan, of course, he's, um... currently buying us bus tickets to Azalea Town so we're not in a hurry or anything, it would really suck to have to hurry to get eight badges just to get to the Silver Conference on time. We've had a great stay here, checking out the sights. Once you've lost the gym battle, you should check out the Sprout Tower, really beautiful, though all the monks are kinda creepy..."

"That's a very nice cosplay you got there," Iris said to make sure Kris didn't get a foul-mouthed reply in. "You make it yourself? Ooh, and I love the hat. It's so... marshmallow-y."

"Oh, uh... I... thanks, I..." Lyra turned back to Kris. "Say, who is she?"

"We're friends," Iris said, "traveling across Johto together, facing adversity side by side and all that."

"Oh, that's actually not sad at all," Lyra said, though oddly enough, not in a sarcastic way. "I'm so glad Kris has friends, she can be such a downer sometimes."

"Tell me about it," Iris laughed, "you know, all this time we've traveled and I..." Iris caught Kris' stare. "I mean, downer is a little harsh, don'tcha think?"

Kris finally seemed to find her voice as she stood up and glared at Lyra, attempting to chew her out, though her voice wavered a little: "Okay, that's it. Look, me and her, we're not friends. Y-you're not my friend, either, so why don't you just, um... go to... away! Shoo!"

"With pleasure," Lyra remarked, "although, my, that is, _our_ bus to Azalea leaves in an hour, so... you guys wanna hang out?"

Lyra's expression was complete, wide-eyed innocence when she asked the last part, but before Iris could respond, Kris had stormed away. Iris tried to think of something witty to say to Lyra, but after some stuttering, she ran after Kris. Once he caught her, Iris quickly turned around, seeing Lyra still standing at the same spot.

Kris had stopped to lean against a lamppost. She seemed even paler than before and had to take several deep breaths before she could get herself together.

"So, um, she was..." Iris tried to think of something to say. "...well, she certainly was, wasn't she? You know, as in the opposite of not being at all?"

An awkward pause ensued.

"Nice friends you have," Iris said.

"Did you pay _any_ attention to that conversation?" Kris asked.

" _Most_ of it, sorta, I guess. I was kinda taken by that outfit, it was really cool. I forgot the rest."

Kris wasn't sure what made her speak up, but all she knew was that Iris was there, and she wouldn't call what she was about to say whining, even if it was partly that.

Kris took a deep breath, and leaned on the lamppost with her back against it and her eyes at the sky, ready to explain it all to Iris or whoever happened to be there to listen: "She was my neighbor back in New Bark Town, which is saying something, because basically everyone there were neighbors with each other, and I'm pretty sure most of them were related to each other, too. For a long time, me and her were..."

"Lovers?" Iris asked.

" _Friends_ ," Kris specified. "We were, like, kids anyway. In that emotional slaughterhouse I called 'school', she was my first and only friend. We both liked the same things. Eating so much candy we almost threw up, watching movies and playing games till our eyes were bloodshot and Pokémon of course. But... I dunno, something just changed over the years. Of course, ask all this from her and she'll deny it and offer her own version."

"Yeah, because yours was definitely unbiased," Iris said.

"I can't believe she's going to the Silver Conference too," Kris said, ignoring the comment. "And that prick Ethan. I thought they'd just hurry and get the badges and go fail with every other wannabe at the Indigo Plateau, thinking that they can meet and battle Lance while actually making it maybe halfway up to Koga..."

Kris sighed.

"I guess I can throw away hopes of making it far in the tournament. I mean, assuming I actually make it that far, there's no way I can beat them."

"Oh, come on!" Iris groaned, her cheerful demeanor finally fading. "This is not the Kris who gave the middle finger to all those stuffy professors at Earl's! That Kris wouldn't mull over something like that – she would go out there train and just keep grinding her Pokémon-"

Kris raised an eyebrow at that.

"You know, battling with it to make it stronger," Iris explained, "until every last opponent fell in her way. So Lyra has the Zephyr Badge? Big whoop! I'll tell you what you're gonna do: you're gonna march up to that gym, tell that trouser leg -humping crocodile of yours to obey or you'll make a purse out of him and beat that gym leader, Falkner or whoever it was."

"RTFM," Kris told Iris and handed her the Johto travel guide. "Falkner has new rules on his digs. Seems like he'll only battle three-on-three, and I'm two Pokémon short."

"So, we'll instead train you up at the Sprout Tower," Iris said quickly and waved the Johto travel guide at Kris. "Seems like there's a guy called Elder Li in charge of this sect of monks who run the place, practicing Buddhism or whatever it is that they do. He's a pretty big cheese in the battling scene of Violet. I mean, you don't need any stinking badges, right?"

Kris still seemed unsure, as she started biting her nails and staring at nothing absently.

"Come on!" Iris encouraged. "Think about the Lyra's sweet tears when you humiliate her at the Silver Conference. But that can't happen unless you go out there and _train_!"

Kris looked at Iris in the eye, Iris staring back without blinking. Eventually, Kris shrugged.

"All right, if you insist," she sighed – again. "But first we gotta check out the Pokémon Center. I've never wanted a poké-ice cream worse than now..."

After a quick swing by the Poké Mart and Iris borrowing Kris money to buy some Potions and Poké Balls while enthusiastically talking about Unova and how it was _soooo_ much more convenient that the stores and the Pokémon Centers were in the same building, the duo headed for the Pokémon Center.

But as Kris and Iris were about to cross the street to get in the Center, Iris grabbed Kris by the sleeve, stopping her from crossing, pointing at something near the woods behind the Pokémon Center.

At first Kris didn't see anything, and the place was mostly deserted at this point in the morning anyway. But then Kris saw some rattling in the tall grass and a small, yellow Pokémon stumbling out of the bushes and on the street before collapsing.

Iris instantly ran towards the Pokémon, and though Kris wasn't happy about a yet another distraction, she reluctantly followed anyway.

As the duo crouched next to the Pokémon, they saw it riddled with cuts and bruises, with cracks in its hide and a large, purple bruise on its forehead, blood dripping down its head.

"Isn't that a Sandshrew?" Iris asked out loud as she untied the jacket tied around her waist and wrapped the yellow Pokémon in it.

Kris could just stare awkwardly, biting her lip. She knew about Pokémon biology, but not enough to give any first aid. Fortunately, the Pokémon Center was nearby, allowing them to take the unconscious Sandshrew there and give it to the nurses and their Chansey. Iris practically pleaded to follow the nurses to the emergency room, but wasn't allowed inside. Meanwhile, Kris gave Croc's Poké Ball to another nurse for some quick healing, which she hadn't done since the disastrous battle with Joey.

"Well?" Kris asked a defeated-looking Iris as she returned from the nurses.

Iris shrugged. "They won't tell me, but apparently it's not _too_ bad. Sandshrew are desert creatures anyway, they're used to dealing with worse. I think it'll be OK."

"Good," Kris said, and accepted Croc's Poké Ball back as the nurse returned it. "Now what do you say we'll head to the Sprout Tower already? We've wasted enough time as it is! Though I don't know if that'll do any good, seeing as from what I've heard, Li and those other guys use Bellsprout, placing me at a pretty severe type disadvantage right off the bat!"

"A rookie trainer, huh?"

Both Kris and Iris turned to see where the voice was coming from. An old, white-haired man wearing a blue jacket, leaning heavily on his cane had observed them quietly from the benches in the waiting room, but was now slowly approaching them. Kris and Iris just stared in response.

"I can tell," the old man smiled. "Everyone's a rookie at some point. Lots of rookie trainers in Violet and Cherrygrove especially, with the Trainer's School and Earl's Pokémon Academy and all. I heard you're going to train at the Sprout Tower. A wise plan, but I know the Elder, and he doesn't accept just everyone. But if you two follow me, I can help you with that."

"Oh, what a nice man!" Iris said enthusiastically. "Come on, Kris, let's go!"

Kris, however, didn't budge. "Care to introduce yourself first?" she asked. "Not that me knowing your name is gonna help you in the trust department."

"People around Violet and Cherrygrove call me the Guide Gent," the old man said, eyes locked at Kris. "A nickname that stuck when the former rookies boasted about their accomplishments in the Pokémon League months later. Without me showing them the basics, they wouldn't be where they are today. I recall a certain young man from Blackthorn with a passion for dragon-types... from what I hear, they made him the Champion not too long ago..."

" _Lance_ _?_ " Kris and Iris exclaimed out loud, and now Kris approached the old man too, though she kept her distance.

"Don't worry, girl, if you want to run away, I'm not exactly in the shape to chase after you," the old man said and smiled for a moment before he had to cough in his white scarf – odd choice of clothing, as it was the middle of summer. "And you can't exactly mug anyone with these withered old hands anyway. But that's all right, as I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to see young trainers use the knowledge I gave them to become something great."

Kris smiled back at the old man. He was about as threatening as a Teddiursa in a Pikachu costume, as in somewhat creepy and off-putting, but easy enough to take care of. Besides, in ' _Sue, the Master Trainer_ ' -books, there was a different old man teaching the main character lessons about life in about every chapter, and that was based on a true story... supposedly.

"Maybe you'd be more inclined to trust me if I told you my real name," the old man remarked and offered his hand to Kris. "Pryce."

Kris shook the old man's hand – he had a surprisingly strong grip. "Kris," she replied, but paused before she let go of him. "Hang on..."

"And I'm Iris!" Iris said cheerfully as she shook Pryce's hand in turn, then showed her Poké Balls to the man. "And these are my Pokémon: Axew, Excadrill, and-"

"Aren't you a gym leader here?" Kris interrupted. "In, uh... Mahogany Town, right?"

"Glad to hear my name carries at least some weight," Pryce smiled. "Maybe now you'll trust me enough to let me show you the way. Yes, I'm a gym leader at the moment, but I can't keep up with the latest techniques and there are a lot of young, promising trainers in Mahogany. I'm glad people in Johto still treat their elders with respect, but at this point, I'd be more than happy to retire and focus on training the younger folk."

Kris and Iris glanced at each other, Iris looking like she was raring to go, and Kris was also tempted, but cautious. It was doubtful that a relatively famous gym leader would try anything in a public building at broad daylight, and at this point, Kris needed all the help she could get.

"All right, Mr. Pryce, I'm game," she said finally. "Lead the way!"

The most popular attraction in Violet City, the Sprout Tower, was an ancient, wooden tower that stood over a hundred feet in length, looming over the entire city, creating a very historical feeling. As Kris, Iris and Pryce entered the tower, the first thing they saw was a thick wooden pillar in the middle of the room swaying dangerously back and forth. There were also monks, tourists and statues representing a Pokémon spread all over the place.

Kris approached one of the statues – they were old and their features were slightly faded, but the Pokémon was still somewhat recognizable. Kris had expected to see Suicune, or possibly Ho-Oh immortalized in the statues, but instead, it was a...

" _Bellsprout_?" Kris said in disbelief. "Wha... Hunh... Zuh?"

"Quieter, please," Pryce whispered. "This tower, just like the magnificent towers in Ecruteak, was built and, to this day, upheld by a group of monks that simply call themselves the 'Brotherhood'."

"Is there an ice cream bar over here?" Iris asked.

"Yes, but it's closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays," Pryce said quietly, focusing mostly on Kris. "Anyway, yes, you could say that these monks are fairly old-fashioned and have failed to acknowledge that the world has changed, but this doesn't mean that there's nothing to be learned from them. People should not forget the wisdom of our ancestors, even as they focus on the future."

"I don't know," Kris muttered, looking around and feeling the familiar wave of boredom hitting her. "I don't see what I can learn from a group of weirdos who think that a woman can't wear shoes at 4 PM unless their husband allows them to or some other ancient crap. I'm surprised they even let us girls in. We might bleed all over their fancy statues or something..."

"They're not _that_ antiquated," Pryce said, though he sounded rather amused. "I suppose the Bellsprout-worship has to do with the gentleness and grace of the Pokémon... but that's not common to the whole Brotherhood, though. Members of this order exist all over the world, and they all have differing beliefs and customs. Bellsprout is strictly a Violet City thing."

"Or this place is a tourist trap," Kris observed when she noticed a monk selling some tourists Bellsprout-shaped lollipops. "It's not like anyone would want to come here otherwise. So what are we doing here?"

"The monks are all expert Pokémon Trainers, but no one is better than the Elder, Li," Pryce explained. "Normally you'd have to battle everyone here to get to him, but just say Pryce sent you, and he'll show you a trick or two. What I can tell you is this: choose your Pokémon wisely. Don't go for the most powerful, the most beautiful, the fastest, the strongest or anything like that, but go with your instincts. Choose the ones you like the most. Treat them with love and care and train every single day. Sure, you can take a rest when you need to, but the more you postpone the training, the harder it will be to get back into the game."

Kris had listened intently, but had to respond with an eye-roll. "I knew most of that stuff already," she said. "I just want to know how to make my Pokémon obey me. Look!"

Kris proved her point by opening the Poké Ball on her belt marked with a blue T. Her Totodile came out jumping in glee, but before Kris could give it any orders, it ran towards the stairs and into the second floor.

"Croc!" Kris yelled after it. "Come back he... oh, why do I even bother?" She turned back to Pryce. "See what I mean?"

Pryce just smiled calmly. "Don't worry, it's not gonna get away or anything, this is the only exit."

"Yeah, but he might chew on some unsuspecting monk's family jewels," Iris pointed out.

"Hmm, good point," Pryce said, "you may have to stop him before he gets too far, but nonetheless," he turned to Kris, "You and your Totodile are both still young. You both need to grow and get to know each other. I must admit that his temperament is a lot to handle... but you need to be confident. Assert yourself, believe in your own words, and it'll listen to you."

"Yeah, it's easy to tell me to believe in myself and blah," Kris said, "but how does that work in practice? _How_ do I do it?"

"I can't tell you that," Pryce said. "I'm not you. You'll discover it yourself. Not to be rude, Kris, but you're not going through anything unique. Millions of people before you have went through the same thing, me included. My first Swinub was a terrible battler and only listened to me about half the time... now it's a powerful Piloswine and my main Pokémon."

"So what happened with it?" Kris asked quickly. "Did you save its life? Did you have to put aside your wacky differences to fight some evil crime boss?"

"No, we trained and allowed ourselves to bond slowly over time," Pryce said dryly. "If you expect something dramatic to happen that will change everything for the better, you'll be waiting until you're as old as me. If you want things to work your way, you have to _make_ them happen. I trust you will. Now excuse me, I believe I'm needed back at the gym. Remember, once you get the Zephyr Badge, and I know you will, your next stop should be the gym in Azalea Town."

"Nah, I don't think so," Kris said. "I don't much care about the Zephyr Badge, I'm more interested in what Li will tell me, and after that, we need to head to the Ruins of Alph. And after that, well, who knows."

"Ah, the ruins," Pryce said. "Well, after that, you have to pass through Azalea anyway, seeing as a strange Pokémon is blocking the road that leads to Goldenrod and Ecruteak. (Kris had to bite her lip to avoid groaning in frustration) It's not too bad, though, you could visit Kurt, the famous Poké Ball maker. In fact, once you're through with Li, come see me and I'll show you a fast way to the ruins."

And with that, Pryce limped out of the tower, leaving Kris and Iris dumbfounded.

"Wow, that guy was totally unhelpful," Iris observed.

"I might be going crazy, almost agreeing with you," Kris said, "but he did help us get past the monks and straight to the Elder, so that's good. Come on, you probably had a point about Croc chewing on some monk nads."

Kris and Iris climbed the stairs into the second floor of the tower. Lit entirely by torches on the wall, an unwise move considering the tower was made of wood, the second floor had monks battling challenges all over the place, allowing Kris and Iris to move past them unnoticed. Kris observed their battling techniques – even though the monks all seemed to train exactly the same Pokémon – Bellsprout – this didn't seem to stop them from winning. Kris watched one monk's Bellsprout effortlessly dodge the electric attacks launched by some girl's Mareep, then retaliate with a Vine Whip attack, while another monk's Bellsprout managed to knock down an Onix, that made a huge crash as it tumbled on the floor.

"Rocky!" the Onix's trainer screeched as he ran to the fainted Pokémon.

Moving past the battles, Kris and Iris entered the third floor, which was somewhat similar to the second one, except the path that apparently led to the Elder was blocked by the central pillar, some Bellsprout statues and a very tall and muscular monk blocking the gap between them.

"Um, excuse me," Kris said meekly as she approached the monk. "You haven't seen a Totodile running around here, have you? It's, like, blue, two feet high, sharp teeth, not so bright but one heck of a dancer-"

"No," the monk interrupted coldly. "If that's all, then get out - and go in peace," he added in a slightly softer manner.

Kris groaned.

"Kris," Iris said quietly. "Maybe you could talk to that General Lee guy and I'll go find Croc for you, okay?"

"What?" Kris asked in shock. "Yeah, um, that would be great. Uh... thanks?" She gave Iris Croc's Poké Ball. "Now get going!"

Iris quickly descended back to the second floor while Kris approached the rude monk, who failed to move and let Kris pass.

"I need to see Elder Li," Kris said.

"He's away," the monk said. "Now get out - and love your fellow man."

Kris sighed. "Pryce sent me," she said in a bored tone.

The monk's attitude changed instantly, though he still didn't step aside. "Oh, he did?" he asked cheerfully. "Yeah, that was a lie, he's here. He's in battle now, though, but he should be finishing up soon enough."

"Um... can I watch?" Kris asked.

"Usually no," the monk said, stretching the word 'usually'. "But _maybe_ I can make an exception this once, if you can help with me something..."

The monk held his palm open expectantly while whistling and looking away. Kris just shrugged in response.

"I don't have any money," she said.

"Oh, you don't, well, okay then, I guess I actually _can_ make an exception this once," the monk said jovially and moved out of the way.

Confused but grateful, Kris walked past the monk and saw what was happening on the makeshift arena, with several monks observing the battle on the sidelines. Kris assumed that the monk with bushy white beard battling with a Hoothoot was Li. However, while Li was in the thick of it, his challenger was merely standing in the shadows, giving simple orders to his Zubat from the corner.

After the Hoothoot and Zubat had circled each other in the air for a while, each repelling the other's attack, the Elder finally managed to get his Hoothoot put Zubat out of commission with Hypnosis. Without saying a word, the challenger recalled Zubat and instead sent out a Chikorita.

Kris frowned. Chikorita wasn't exactly a common Pokémon – some trainers in Johto had them, but most of them got theirs from Professor Elm or a ridiculously expensive breeding center, the closest being near Olivine City. And it couldn't be the one who got a Chikorita from Elm at the same time Ethan and Lyra got their Cyndaquil, as that trainer was a girl...

"Hoothoot, Peck!" the Elder ordered.

Chikorita was too slow for the owl Pokémon who swooped down and hit Chikorita with its beak, knocking the grass-type off its feet.

"Come on, you weakling!" Kris heard the challenger shout. "Get up! Get up and fight! If you lose this one, there'll be no food for you today!

 _Okay,_ _an unusual style,_ Kris thought.

But it seemed to have payed off, as Chikorita dragged itself up and, as the challenger ordered, hit Hoothoot with Razor Leaf, managing to give cuts to both its wings, sending it tumbling down.

"Well, come on!" the challenger shouted at the Chikorita, who was breathing heavily, having most likely gone through a ton of battles before the Elder. "Finish if off already!"

Chikorita raced toward the dazed Hoothoot and headbutted it, sending the owl Pokémon flying until it hit a pillar and was knocked out. A monk acting as a referee declared the challenger as the winner, and the Chikorita looked at its trainer expectantly, but was returned to its Poké Ball without so much as a word from its trainer.

The Elder walked into the shadowy corner where Kris couldn't see, addressing the challenger directly and handing him a disc of some kind.

"You showed us what you've got and it's indeed good," the Elder said. "Take this Technical Machine. However, you should care more about your Pokémon. The way you treat your Pokémon can be too harsh. Remember, Pokémon are not tools of war!"

The challenger responded by snatching the disc from the Elder's hand, pocketing and marching away from the arena and towards Kris. As he stepped into the light, Kris finally saw his features: long red hair, steel-gray eyes and a seemingly permanent scowl on his face.

"Silver!" Kris gasped, causing the man to stop in front of her.

Silver was known by many who had went to Cherygrove school – he had apparently been a student at some point and was a year or two older than Kris, but had dropped out quickly and spent most of his way sneaking around the town, occasionally stealing food from the Poké Mart and sometimes breaking into the school as well. He was the kind of guy little boys admire but grown men look down their nose at.

"You," Silver replied briefly and tried to get past Kris, who blocked his path.

"No, it's Kris, not Yu. At least take the trouble to learn my name. I learned yours... _Silver_." Kris chuckled. "Not very manly, is it? Sounds like a stripper name. Though I doubt anyone would want to see you shaking your ass on stage... not with those eyebrows."

Kris glanced at the Poké Ball in Silver's hand and frowned – it was marked with a green 'C'.

"You did it," Kris told Silver. "You stole that Pokémon from Elm's lab!"

"So?" Silver said and smiled cruelly.

"Oh, I don't know," Kris shrugged – she convinced herself that she wasn't afraid of Silver. He couldn't say anything worse than Lyra had. Nonetheless, she kept her distance. "It doesn't bother you that there's a girl in New Bark Town who was looking forward to starting her journey? But more importantly, _I_ wanted that Chikorita!"

"Well, you should have taken it the way I did," Silver sneered and took a step towards Kris. "Last warning: get out of my way."

"Elm gave the cops your description," Kris lied, though she couldn't hide the fear in her voice anymore. "You won't get far. You might as well give me the Chikorita now."

Kris knew how pathetic she sounded before she finished her sentence. Silver seemed to agree.

"Oh yeah, Johto's famously competent police officers," he scoffed. "As for the Pokémon," Silver spread his arms and held the Poké Ball containing Chikorita just a few feet away from Kris. "Why don't you just take it? Go on."

Kris hadn't expected this. For a second, she wondered if she could quickly grab it and run away... but Silver was taller and most likely stronger than her... he probably ran fast as well, while Kris was admittedly more of a couch potato. Unable to do anything, Kris just stood in place, prompting Silver to laugh at her. Instead, Kris did the only thing she could think of:

"IRIS!" she screamed, hoping she was still in the second floor looking for Croc. "THE GUY WHO STOLE THE CHIKORITA IS COMING DOWN! DON'T-"

Without warning, Silver lunged towards Kris, grabbing her throat and pinning her to the wall with his other hand. Paralyzed by fear, Kris tried desperately to breathe, but Silver's grip was incredibly strong.

"Hey, kids, knock it off," the monk said ineffectually, without even moving from his spot.

"Word of warning," Silver whispered to her, utterly calmly. "I've been doing this since I was ten. I'm not gonna get caught now. Don't try to follow me. It'll end badly."

Silver let go of Kris and tossed her on the floor, then quickly walked to the stairs, disappearing before Kris could even gather her thoughts. She rubbed her neck and slowly stood up, still shuddering after Silver's unexpected attack. Kris wasn't sure if Iris could do anything to Silver, but she certainly wasn't going to chase him down herself. She then turned to glare at the monk.

"Thanks a lot," she said icily.

"Hey, what do you want me to do?" the monk wondered. "My job is to stand here. Besides, I took an oath of non-violence, I can only raise my hand against those who oppose our order."

"An Uzi would have been more helpful," Kris muttered.

"The Elder will see you now," the monk simply replied.

Kris nodded, her throat still sore. The monk stepped aside, and Kris slowly walked to the brightest room in the tower, with dozens of torches on the walls. Kris recognized the Elder, who had knelt in the middle of what seemed to be a Pokémon battlefield. Though Elder Li was surrounded by similar-looking bald dudes in robes, the Elder was the only one with a thick white beard and mustache, and his robes were a lot more colorful.

"Welcome, challenger," Li said as Kris approached him. "So good of you to come. Sprout Tower is a place of training where we study the art of Pokémon battles and try to figure out how all living beings can coexist."

"Yeah, great," Kris said. "Listen, uh, can you tell me about that ginger guy you just fought? I'm starting to believe that the old saying about them and souls holds some weight... anyway, about that Chikorita-"

"Ah, him," Li said and stood up fairly quickly considering his advanced age. "Poor thing. Don't get me wrong, he fought well, but the way he treated the poor Pokémon... I mainly worry because a Pokémon's personality is largely shaped by the trainer, and with a trainer like that..."

"But he still beat you," Kris said, more to herself than to the Elder. "Anyway, uh, thanks, that wasn't why I came, of course... I need some help and Mr. Pryce said you might be able to give some. I want to become a good trainer."

"I've heard that numerous times," Li replied immediately. "And I hope you'll excuse me for jumping into conclusions here, but most who come to me seem to lack... well, conviction. They want a shortcut to greatness and are not willing to work for it..."

"There's a shortcut to greatness?" Kris asked, then gathered herself. "I mean, well... I don't expect to become awesome overnight. I just need some help to get started, that's all. Problem is, I only have one Pokémon and it doesn't even listen to me. I'll be stuck in this crappy town forever if I can't get ahead with things! Uh, no offense..."

Li contemplated on Kris' words for a moment as he just looked into the girl's eyes. Kris waited patiently, believing she had already said a little too much.

"All right," Li finally said. "You do seem to have at least _some_ motivation. That's more than most can say. Let's begin your lesson!"

**~o~O~o~**

Having heard Kris' shouting from upstairs, Iris waited for Silver in the second floor. Her Axew, who was helping Iris and trying to sniff Totodile out, was standing next to her, ready to protect her. To both Iris' and Axew's surprise, Silver just marched past her as if she wasn't even there.

"Hey!" Iris yelled at him, finally making him stop.

"Are you going to tell me the same thing, too?" Silver asked mockingly as he turned around to face Iris. " _You can't do that! It's wrong! Think of the poor Pokémon_! And all that crap."

"No," Iris said. "I doubt it'd help. I just have to wonder-"

"Yeah, me too, what is that thing?" Silver asked and pointed at the Axew, who growled at Silver. "Never seen a Pokémon like that before. Is that from Hoenn?"

"Um, Unova."

"Wow, even farther than I imagined. And a dragon-type, no less. Even if I don't bother to make that runt evolve, I'm sure there are collectors who'd pay me a bundle just to get to see it."

"Why are you like that?" Iris asked.

The question seemed to have taken Silver's mind out of Axew. "Say what?" he asked.

"You heard me," Iris said. "Why do you do that? It's not like Pokémon are hard to come by. Just throw a Poké Ball into a random bush and you'll probably catch one pretty easily. I had to release like three Nidoran that I accidentally caught back in Kanto when they still had a Safari Zone. Why go through all that effort to steal them?"

Silver stared at Iris blankly. "Why do you care?"

"Is it... the act of stealing it that's the main prize?" Iris continued. "Are you so dead inside that you have to make others feel miserable so you'd feel at least something? And unlike humans, Pokémon can't talk back too much, or even fight back if you mark them as your own. At least you'll have someone to kick around all day now. So I'm guessing you're also lonely?"

Silver rolled his eyes. "Great, so you took psych 101 recently, did you?"

"Oh yes, I loved it, it was so interesting, I'm definitely taking more of those," Iris squeed, but steeled herself eventually. "But anyway, I can see why you do it. But you don't have to. Just allow me to help you."

"Whatever," Silver scoffed. "Look, you have a dragon-type, so at least you're not _quite_ as pathetic as that geek upstairs. My advice is, don't associate with her if you ever want to get ahead in life."

"Kris is my friend," Iris said. "I think," she added quickly. "Well, she could be! Point is, I don't care what kind of trainer she is. You could be my friend too."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Silver said. "But hey, it's your choice. I'm guessing you won't be needing that Axew then..."

Iris flinched when Silver pulled out a knife and approached her and Axew. The dragon-type jumped in front of its trainer, but didn't get a chance to do anything as something blue and very fast-moving lunged from out of nowhere and sunk its teeth into Silver's leg.

Silver yelled in pain and dropped his knife, frantically kicking the air to shake Totodile off him. Iris was about to step forward and do something, but Silver finally shook the water-type off by ramming his leg into the wall.

As Totodile finally let go, Silver ran away, leaving drops of blood after him as he disappeared into the stairs. Totodile was dazed by the impact, so Iris reacted quickly by returning it into its Poké Ball.

"Well, you can be pretty useful when you want to be," Iris said, holding the Poké Ball in a tight grip, as if expecting Totodile to somehow break out. "Come on, what do you say we go see how your trainer is doing?"

**~o~O~o~**

Though the overzealous monk wouldn't let Iris to see what Kris was doing, Kris' session with Elder Li was soon over. Though Kris was quiet, she seemed decidedly less nervous than usual. Iris returned Kris her Totodile and quietly recommended going back to the Pokémon Center, which Kris agreed to with a quiet nod.

It wasn't until the duo had returned to the Pokémon Center and handed Croc's Poké Ball to the nurse once again that Kris decided to speak up.

"I think I got it now," she said.

"Got 'it'?" Iris said. "Well, you do seem a little more confident now, so... yay! Now, there's still many hours to kill before we see Blaine, so how about we go and get some-"

"I wanna go challenge the gym," Kris said.

Iris blinked. "A-are you sure?"

Kris nodded. "I think... if I don't do it now, it'll be too late to change my mind afterward. And I have no idea what kind of tests or trials or whatever I'll have to go through. I need all the practice I can get."

"Well, that's cool and all," Iris said, "but what about that three Pokémon -rule?"

"Yes, that's what I'm trying to figure out here," Kris sighed. "There's nothing but stuff like Rattata and Pidgey and Caterpie here. Oh, and plenty of Bellsprout, but those won't help me against Falkner... and I'll punch someone if I have to see one ever again. So that leaves..."

Kris left the sentence unfinished and instead marched to the receptionist at the Pokémon emergency room, a confused Iris following in tow.

"Excuse me," Kris told the receptionist. "My friend here," she pointed at Iris, "left my Sandshrew in here a while ago. How's it doing?"

"Yours?" Iris wondered.

The receptionist didn't hear that, as he grumpily took his eyes off the newspaper he was reading and typed something on his computer.

"Yes, they were able to stabilize his condition and fix his injuries pretty quickly," the receptionist said monotonously. "The damage looked worse than it actually was, but the impact on the head was pretty major. Good thing Sandshrew have such thick skulls. It might be a little confused for a while, and you shouldn't stress it too much. Also, we'll give you some medicine that'll help it grow its hide back in shape. I'll go get him for you!"

Kris nodded, and as soon as the receptionist left, Iris pulled at Kris' sleeve.

"What are you doing?" Iris whispered. "What if that Pokémon belongs to somebody? The only place close by with wild Sandshrew is the Union Cave and-"

"-they don't leave the cave, especially in daylight, I know," Kris said. "And as for belonging to someone... we'll find out soon enough."

The receptionist and a Chansey brought the Sandshrew to Kris, who took it carefully and held it in her arms like a baby - or like she had seen people in TV hold babies. It was still sleeping and its head was bandaged, but most of the cuts and bruises it had were barely visible. Kris took the medicine the receptionist offered and quickly left the Pokémon Center, Iris following suit.

The two sneaked behind the Pokémon Center and Kris took out one of the empty Poké Balls Iris had bought her.

"Here goes," Kris said and lightly tapped the Sandshrew with the Poké Ball.

Much to her relief, the Sandshrew was sucked inside the Poké Ball, which started shaking on Kris' hand. Kris and Iris didn't even breathe as they watched it shake once.

Then a second time.

Then a third time.

And, then, after a fourth shake, the red light in the ball's center turned off and it stopped shaking. Kris and Iris exhaled and Kris attached the Poké Ball to her belt.

"Awesome," she said, relieved. "It may not be what I was after, but at least it's not trying to bite people or hump their legs all the time."

"Yeah, speaking of which, we need to find a place where I can wash my pants," Iris said. "But anyway, you're still one short."

Kris nodded. "I don't need to be reminded," she muttered. "And I seriously can't think of anything. I guess we could maybe wait until it's dark and see if we can find a Hoothoot, but we don't have time, we gotta go see Blaine. And I can't face Lyra again with a Hoothoot after what she said!"

Iris sighed at this reasoning, but nonetheless took one of the Poké Balls off her belt.

"Here," she said and handed it to Kris. "Borrow my Excadrill. It's a bit tricky to battle with other people's Pokémon, but you've earned the chance."

Kris just stared at the Poké Ball Iris was offering for a few seconds.

"Well... thanks," she said finally and reached out for it, but Iris pulled it away at the last second.

"On _one_ condition!" Iris said.

"Yeah, okay, whatever!" Kris said impatiently. "Name it!"

"You can't use the Sandshrew."

"The fu-"

"I mean it," Iris said pointedly. "You only have to _have_ three Pokémon on you, right? You don't have to use all three. And Excadrill is a steel-type, you shouldn't have too much problems. But that Sandshrew looked like it had been pooped out by a Seviper just a while ago! You can't risk it getting hurt."

Kris gritted her teeth, but knew Iris had a point. And besides, how useful would a still-recovering Pokémon be in a battle, anyway?

"I promise," Kris said, and Iris smiled as she handed the Poké Ball over. "Now let's get there," Kris hurried, "time's wasting!"

Kris and Iris briskly walked around the Pokémon Center's corner, almost bumping into a brown-haired girl who was walking towards the Center in a hurry.

The brunette, holding a device that beeped at a constantly growing rate, quickly went to see the emergency room receptionist, noticing the device had started beeping like crazy in the Pokémon center.

"Sorry to interrupt, but this is important," she panted at the receptionist. "Have you recently treated a badly injured Sandshrew here?"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Violet City Gym, Johto** _

Kris' confidence had quickly faded by the time she got to the gym, introduced herself to the Gym Guy and announced her desire to challenge Falkner. Now she was standing on the opposite end of a battlefield, waiting for Falkner to arrive. According to his assistant, he was busy with his hair. Kris didn't mind, though – a part of her wished that the battle would never start. She was wringing her hands nervously and using her all strength to avoid panicking.

Iris was sitting on the sidelines with her Axew, occasionally shouting out words of encouragement that felt nice at first, but started to get annoying as time went by.

Kris almost jumped when she heard the Gym Guy's announcement: " _An official gym battle is about to begin! Kris from New Bark Town has challenged Falkner, the Violet City Gym Leader. Three Poké Balls, no time limit. Begin!_ "

"Oh, Arceus," Kris whimpered. "I'm gonna die here."

Falkner had finally arrived to the other end of the battlefield. He was a bishõnen-looking fellow with thick blue hair and dark blue eyes. What annoyed Kris the most, though, was the obnoxious smirk on his face.

"Dodrio!" Falkner yelled. "I choose you!"

Falkner sent out a Dodrio, a three-headed, wingless-bird that stood almost six feet tall. All three, vicious-looking heads had sharp beaks, and the claws on its strong feet were also deadly-looking.

"Just remember what you learned!" Iris yelled from the sidelines.

"Right..." Kris said to herself. "Croc, go!"

"Uh... you sure you heard what I said?" Iris wondered.

But Kris ignored her and sent her Totodile out anyway. Predictably, the moment Croc got out of its ball, it started jumping and dancing around, completely ignoring the situation at hand.

"Croc, focus!" Kris ordered. "Water Gun!"

Totodile responded by sticking its tongue out at Kris, then it turned around and shook its tail around while clearly laughing. Kris clenched her fists, her nails almost burrowing into her skin.

Predictably, Falkner took advantage of the opportunity. "Dodrio, Drill Peck!" he ordered.

Dodrio jumped into the air and landed on the Totodile, pinning it down with its strong feet. Then, all three of its beaks started spinning like drills, and Dodrio proceeded to jab Totodile with them, causing it to yell out in pain.

"Hang in there, Croc," Kris muttered. "Come on! Attack! Use Bite!"

But instead, Totodile used Scratch, swiping Dodrio's legs with its claws. This made Dodrio jump away from Totodile, allowing Croc to gather its strength.

"Pathetic," Falkner observed. "This will be over in no time. Dodrio, Rage!"

Dodrio's entire body glowed red as it charged towards Totodile, who tried to run away, but its short legs were no match for Dodrio, who kicked the little crocodile in the back of the head, knocking it out. Kris had no choice but to recall it.

"I'd like to say that you did your best, but..." Kris muttered and shook her head.

"One down, two to go!" Falkner mocked. "Come on, rookie, we don't have all day!"

Kris' eye twitched, but she didn't rise to Falkner's baiting. Having consulted Iris about the attacks the Pokémon had, Kris sent it out. "Excadrill, go!"

This was Kris' first time actually seeing an Excadrill: it was short, even shorter than Kris and Iris, but extremely bulky and had huge blades for arms and a third one sticking out of its forehead. Falkner nodded appreciatively.

"A steel-type," he said, as if everyone in the room didn't already know that. "Clever – but it won't help you. Dodrio, keep your distance and Hyper Beam!"

"Excadrill, Protect!" Kris yelled.

Dodrio fired a powerful stream of energy from its beak, but the beam didn't hit Excadrill, but rather the invisible wall Excadrill had projected. The attack bounced off the wall harmlessly, whilst Dodrio was left exhausted by the attack.

"Hah, just like Li said!" Kris said triumphantly. "Now it has to recharge. Excadrill, Sandstorm!"

The blades on Excadrill's arms started spinning rapidly and eventually whipped off a storm of sand and dust, forcing Kris and Falkner to partly cover their eyes, though the storm was mostly directed at Dodrio, who was almost completely blinded by it.

"Come on, Dodrio, get around it!" Falkner yelled. "Use Agility!"

"Rock Slide!" Kris yelled at Excadrill, ecstatic that the battle was going her way for once.

Dodrio was still hampered by the sandstorm as Excadrill launched a bunch of boulders towards it. The boulders managed to hit all three of its heads, causing it to tumble on the ground, unconscious. Annoyed, Falkner returned the Pokémon.

"Try this on for size - Pidgeotto, go!" Falkner yelled.

Falkner's next Pokémon was a raptor-like bird Pokémon with a colorful tail. Unlike Dodrio, this one could actually fly, but Kris was undeterred.

"Excadrill, Rock Slide!" she ordered.

"Quick Attack!" Falkner countered.

Pidgeotto moved way too fast for Excadrill, and before the ground-type realized anything, Pidgeotto struck it with a full-body attack, though it was clearly hurt itself in the process.

"Oh no!" Iris wailed from the sidelines. "I hope the Pidgeotto is okay... you can't hurt a steel-type like that!"

"Iris, you're breaking my concentration!" Kris scolded.

"Pidgeotto, Mud-Slap!"

Falkner took shamelessly advantage of Kris' distraction, and Pidgeotto fired a blob of mud at Excadrill, blinding it. Then, it quickly flew away from Excadrill's reach.

"No, damn it!" Kris wailed. "Um... Metal Claw!"

But Excadrill was still trying to get the mud off its eyes and ignored Kris' order. Falkner ordered a Whirlwind, which sent the Excadrill flying. Iris gasped and covered her eyes as Excadrill was knocked out surprisingly quickly. Kris returned Excadrill and tossed the Poké Ball to Iris, who quietly thanked it for the battle.

"You're down to your last!" Falkner announced, as if the giant board on the wall didn't already signal that. "Tick tock, rookie!"

Kris took out Sandshrew's Poké Ball, but didn't throw it yet. She looked at Iris, who shook her head. Kris sighed. No other alternatives left.

"Kris, no!" Iris warned.

"Sorry," Kris said, but to the Poké Ball, not Iris. "But sometimes you need unusual tactics... Sandshrew, go!"

When the yellow ground-type got out of its Poké Ball, it blinked in confusion and instantly put its hands on its head to feel the bandage. Kris cringed at the sight, while Falkner just looked confused.

"Sandshrew!" Kris yelled to catch the critter's confusion. "I know we didn't get a chance to meet and you're hurt and all that, but... you have to do this thing for me. I found you - I mean, we found you, and we took you to get fixed. You can trust us!"

Sandshrew still looked confused, though a little less so. Falkner cleared his throat impatiently.

"If you don't mind, I have other things to do!" he reminded. "This isn't my full-time job, you know! Pidgeotto, Double-Edge!"

"Okay, Sandshrew, you have to trust me now!" Kris yelled out when the Sandshrew steeled itself for the Pidgeotto. "Stay still!"

"WHAT?" Iris yelled and stood up.

Sandshrew seemed equally bewildered, but to Kris' relief, did as told. Falkner smiled, sure of his victory, as Pidgeotto approached, its body glowing white.

"Now, Sand-Attack and dodge!" Kris yelled quickly as Pidgeotto was about to collide with the immobile Sandshrew.

Even Kris was surprised at Sandshrew's reactions – it tossed a fistful of sand directly at Pidgeotto's eyes and leaped out of the way, causing the bird Pokémon to fall on the ground. Falkner was amazed too, and didn't seem to think of an attack, allowing Kris to get one in:

"Now Slash!"

Looking almost enthusiastic, Shrew leaped into the air and swiped the land-bound Pidgeotto with its sharp claws, knocking it out with a single precise strike. Awestruck, Falkner had no choice but to recall Pidgeotto.

Sandshrew, however, leaped into the air triumphantly, squealing as if to say "f**k yeah!", or so Kris assumed. Iris looked impressed too, and sat down again, deciding to see how the battle went.

On the opposite end of the battlefield, Falkner was holding his last Poké Ball and gave it a pretentious kiss before sending it out. "I choose you!" he yelled dramatically – a phrase often used in ' _Sue, the Master Trainer_ ', Kris remembered.

Falkner's last Pokémon was... a Hoothoot.

Kris couldn't help but to grin. That was his last? Kris was expecting something really strong, like a Fearow or a Skarmory, or at least a Noctowl. But surprisingly, Falkner didn't look like a man about to lose a match.

"Confusion!" he ordered.

"Shrew, look out!" was all Kris could manage.

Hoothoot fired a blue stream of energy from its eyes, but Sandshrew leaped out of the way with incredible speed. Hoothoot wasn't discouraged, however, and as per Falkner's orders, kept firing Confusion attacks while Kris merely told Sandshrew to run – she had something planned.

This chase lasted for several minutes, Falkner ordering Hoothoot to use either Confusion or Hypnosis and Kris just telling Sandshrew to keep running and encouraging it. Somehow, Sandshrew didn't even need to slow down and didn't seem to get tired, while Hoothoot's aim got steadily worse.

What Kris didn't know was what to do strike back – a ground-type had limited options, and Hoothoot was flying way too high for Sandshrew to use Slash or Poison Sting.

"I have all day," Falkner taunted. "Hoothoot, stop flying, aim and use Confusion!"

Kris just remembered something – Li had told Kris to avoid going all-offensive if possible, while a textbook had mentioned a list of a Sandshrew's attacks at some point. "Shrew, stop!" she yelled, deciding to short its name out to save time. "Defense Curl!"

Sandshrew, not confused by the sudden change of title, did exactly as ordered and curled itself up into a ball. As Kris had predicted, the Confusion attack bounced back, though Shrew visibly shuddered as it struck the ground-type's cracked hide. Hoothoot was hit by its own Confusion attack and lost some altitude, giving Kris an idea.

"Now, Rollout!

Still in a ball, Shrew started spinning and it bounced into the air, striking Hoothoot and damaging it considerably. But Kris was not pleased – Hoothoot was still in the air, while Kris had counted on the attack knocking it out.

"Use Rollout again!" Kris yelled, remembering that the attack gained power when used repeatedly.

"Hoothoot, dodge!" Falkner yelled.

Kris felt like cussing out when Hoothoot flew out of the way, causing Sandshrew to fall flat on its belly on the gym floor. However, it was still conscious, as every bit of damage Shrew felt just seemed to increase its desire to kick the Hoothoot's possibly nonexistent ass.

"Okay, Hoothoot, time for the special attack," Falkner said.

Having no idea what it was, Kris didn't know how to counter it either, and decided to watch as Hoothoot flew as high as it could manage, then folded its wings and started plummeting headfirst towards Sandshrew.

"What the... Shrew, run!" Kris ordered.

But Shrew's knees buckled and it fell again, having apparently hurt itself after missing the Hoothoot. Falkner smirked.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it..." Kris whispered to herself, trying to desperately think of something.

She wished that she had trained with Li some more – the old man only showed her some basic tactics, told her the kinds of attacks Pokémon possessed, gave some vague tips and borrowed her a book that Kris hadn't had time to read yet. Defense Curl wouldn't work this time – Hoothoot's beak was sharp and the Confusion attack had visibly weakened Shrew's hide.

But there was someone else who had given her good advice...

"Shrew!" Kris yelled. "Just stand still! Counter it with your own head!"

"Kris, you can't!" Iris yelled. "Call this off already!"

Kris ignored her, and though Shrew shuddered a bit, it steeled itself for the impact. Time felt brutally slow during the second it took Hoothoot's head to collide with Shrew's.

And with that, they both fell on the floor, barely keeping themselves together and staggering all over the place. Kris, Falkner and the Gym Guy referee crept up closer, watching as Sandshrew and Hoothoot stumbled about, waiting for them to recover their balance.

Unexpectedly, Sandshrew grabbed Hoothoot with its claws, leaning on it for support while pushing it to the ground, knocking the owl Pokémon out.

The referee looked at a completely bewildered Falkner, then at Kris, then scared both of them as he yelled out: "THE CHALLENGER WINS!"

Falkner spat on the floor and returned Hoothoot, but nonetheless stomped out to get the Zephyr Badge. Meanwhile, Shrew, apparently realizing that it won, fell on the ground too. Iris was about to get off her seat and storm to the Sandshrew's aid, but stopped when she saw what Kris was doing.

She clutched the little Pokémon, hugging it as she whispered something to its ear. Iris got a bit closer to hear Kris repeating the same thing over and over in panic as she cradled the Sandshrew:

"I'm so sorry... please, don't hate me... you're gonna be okay... I'm sorry.."

**~o~O~o~**

Though the nurses exchanged looks when Kris and Iris arrived to the Pokémon Center for the third time in one day, they nonetheless took Shrew, Croc and Iris' Excadrill in. Kris almost cried out of relief when a nurse told her that Shrew's injuries hadn't gotten much worse, but decided to give it a CAT scan just in case.

Their other Pokémon already returned, Kris and Iris waited for the scan to be over in the lounge in complete silence. After this unbearable awkwardness had gone on for some time, Kris sighed and eventually broke it:

"I know what you're gonna say, okay?"

"Oh," Iris said.

"I just wanted to win so badly."

"I know."

"And I went too far."

"I know that too."

"And I'm sorry, okay?"

Iris shook her head. "You really shouldn't apologize to me for that."

Kris rolled her eyes. "Well, I don't expect Shrew - that Sandshrew, I mean - to suddenly answer me. I'm lucky if it even walks again after what I did."

Kris buried her face in her hands, and Iris turned to look at her, slightly more sympathetic now.

"Shrew's a pretty good name," she said quietly. "Simple, easy to remember, people will know what you mean when you refer to it..."

Kris quickly wiped her eyes before looking at Iris, trying to look like she was laughing at herself ironically. "Best I could think of at that time," she said. "Though I don't know if I should keep it... I don't think I deserve to."

Iris wasn't sure how to answer that, but didn't have to, as they heard the sound of Pryce's cane as he limped towards Kris and Iris.

"Well, I'm glad to see you two again," he said warmly. "How'd it go?"

Kris wordlessly showed him her brand new Zephyr Badge.

"Oh, excellent!" he beamed. "Looks like I was actually of help. You know, not all people appreciate my advice. They all just want instant fame, wanting to be the very best like no one ever was. Thinking that they're unbeatable, born to be winners but it's not always that black and white..."

"I think we get it," Iris said.

Pryce looked at both of them. "You don't look too happy, though," he observed.

"Is every battle going to be like this?" Kris wondered. "If so, then what's the point?"

"Does there have to be one?" Pryce asked.

Kris wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but was spared from any philosophical nonsense when a Chansey arrived, delivering Sandshrew's Poké Ball for her.

"Do you think I should keep it?" Kris asked Iris as he took the Pokémon.

Iris smiled encouragingly. "No one is born a 'worthy trainer', Kris. I think you should see how it goes. Earn its trust. Make all this up to it. It clearly likes to battle, and in case you didn't notice, it obeyed you right off the bat. A freshly caught wild Pokémon that has gone through something horrible, you'd think it would have all the reason in the world to just bugger off, right?"

"So, then, are we ready to go?" Pryce asked as he leaned on his cane. "Ruins of Alph, right?"

Kris looked at Sandshrew's Poké Ball, wondering exactly what was going on its mind, and what exactly had happened to it. And about what Iris said: how, despite all that the Sandshrew had went through, it still kept going and even after getting hurt, it hadn't given up.

"Let's go," Kris said.

* * *


	4. Light My Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To begin her first quest, Kris must meet the eccentric former gym leader Blaine, who has a secret to tell about his past

" _The coming evil has no one shape, one form._ _It has spread through its many followers,_ _the hearts and minds of all living beings, and those who sit idly by, observing but never acting. Quoth the transcendent one: 'evil can never go away –_ _but_ _we must try_ _to fight it_ _regardless.'_ "

"Here we are," Iris said, cheerful as always. "The Ruins of Alph."

The Ruins of Alph were an archeological dig site near the outskirts of Violet City. The place was full of partially collapsed stone buildings as well as shrines and entrances to catacombs excavated from underneath piles of dirt and sand that had buried what was apparently the oldest settlement in either Johto or Kanto.

"...'an ancient civilization supposedly responsible for creating the basis for all modern writing'", Iris read off the Johto travel guide. "Seems the people who lived here worshiped a Pokémon – it doesn't say what – but some sort of natural disaster destroyed their home. Johto was then uninhabited for about a century until another settlement was built to where Ecruteak is now. Fascinating!"

"Yeah, let's pretend that's true," Kris said as she scanned the area, then looked at her PokéGear. "It's almost seven. We better find Blaine."

**Chapter Four: _Light My Fire_**

Aside from the old stone buildings, shrines and temples that were barely standing, there were plenty of modern, hastily built wooden shacks were the scientists apparently worked in. However, the sun was about to set and some scientists and other staff were clearly packing the place up for the day.

Due to Kris' prodding, it was Iris who had to ask about Blaine's whereabouts, so she happily skipped over to a technician loading boxes into a van.

"Sorry, we're closing," the technician grunted without even pausing from his work. "I'm sure some other tourist trap will keep you slack-jawed gawkers entertained-"

"Um, we're not tourists," Iris said. "We're looking for a scientist, Dr. Blaine. He works here...?"

The technician dropped his box and finally looked at Iris and Kris, the latter standing uncomfortably on the background.

" _Blaine_?" he shouted, his voice getting high-pitched. "No one ever comes to see him... oh, jeez, maybe you'll get him to leave. He's over there." He pointed at another small wooden shack not too far from the southern gate, only this one had its door and windows boarded up.

"Oh, that's definitely him," Iris nodded.

"Yeah, but I'm staying at least twenty yards away from that place at all times," the technician said anxiously. "That guy ain't right! Every once in a while he comes to pick up food from the canteen, and whenever he looks at you..." He shuddered. "There's nothing behind those sunglasses, I can tell you that!"

"Thanks!" Iris chirped at the technician.

She started happily skipping towards the shack, as if excited to meet an old friend, while Kris just slouched after her, shoulders slumped, ready to put another penny in the "this is gonna suck" - jar.

As Kris and Iris stood at the doorstep of Blaine's shack, Kris took note of a sign posted above the door:

" _Visitors will be probed_ "

\- _Blaine_

"You sure about this?" Kris asked, this time with genuine concern.

"Hey, you heard it yourself, your professor Elm is friends with him," Iris said. "Yeah, he's eccentric, in the same way all brilliant minds are. But trust me, he _is_ brilliant. And precise, like German clockwork! And a great battler too, he had a gym inside a _volcano_ , after all."

Despite more protests by Kris, Iris knocked on the door, trying to find an area not covered by planks. For a few seconds, there was silence. Then, a crackling, raspy voice came through a small speaker above the door:

" _Ah, challengers, no doubt. This is not quite my gym in Cinnabar, but it'll do. Now, if the other side ye wish to see, ye must answer me these questions three. Question one-"_

"Dr. Blaine, it's us!" Iris cut in. "Iris, remember, we talked about the you-know-what project earlier this year. And this is my friend Christina! Professor Elm sent us, you're expecting us!"

"Christina?" Kris wondered. "Iris, my name isn't-"

But Kris had no time to finish that sentence, as the dirt underneath the duo's feet disappeared as a hidden hatch opened and Kris and Iris both fell several feet below ground, both screaming in shock.

They barely missed the solid concrete floor of the dark room they ended up in as their fall was broken by a pile of leaves, though it was still not a happy experience.

"Oh, lord..." Kris grumbled as she got up, spitting leaves off her mouth. "That son of a..."

"Did you break something?" Iris asked with concern as she picked leaves off her hair – she hadn't been injured at all, apparently.

"My ass, it seems," Kris said through gritted teeth. "Once your Blaine gets here, I'm gonna-"

The torches around the room were all set alight, and the first thing Kris and Iris saw in the dingy basement that they ended up in was a Magmar, a bipedal Pokémon seemingly made of nothing but liquid hot "magma" and flames. It just stood in the middle of the room, staring at its two guests.

Then, someone walked down the stairs, and based on his deep, raspy voice that came from either years of smoking or inhaling smoke in a volcano. He was tall, rugged and in considerably good shape for a man in his late 50's or early 60's. He was completely bald but had thick white mustache and covered his eyes with sunglasses.

"At ease, Magmar, no need to melt off the faces off these folks," he said as he quickly descended into the basement. "Ah, Iris, good to see you again. That is, if it's really you and not someone who ripped off your face and uses it as a mask... maybe the melting idea isn't too bad after all."

"It's me!" Iris said quickly. "When I first saw you, you asked me that riddle about the Pokémon Rangers!"

Blaine grunted, satisfied with the answer, and turned his focus to Kris who slowly got on her feet while rubbing her backside.

"She hasn't been tested yet, though," Blaine muttered.

"I don't test well," Kris said.

"I ask the questions here!" Blaine said, raising is voice so much it made both Kris and Iris flinch. "Now, then, riddle me this..."

"What is this?" Kris asked Iris under her breath.

"Oh, the doctor loves riddles," Iris whispered, watching Blaine pace around the room, muttering stuff to himself. "He does that to everyone, though, don't worry."

"You sure this guy is a real doctor?" Kris wondered. "I mean, he _is_ wearing a lab coat, but so did I during Halloween. I went as Dr. Tomoe," Kris clarified to a confused Iris. "Well, not so much _went_ as sat in my basement eating candy. Lyra went as Waluigi, if I recall."

"A-ha!" Blaine suddenly yelled, and Kris and Iris flinched again. "Prepare yourself, and listen carefully, I will not repeat it. Well, I will probably repeat it if you want, because this is a real brainbuster. So, a Houndour is sleeping in the middle of a black street that has no streetlights and there is no moon. A car is coming down the road, its headlights off. And yet, the car easily steers around the Pokémon. The question is: how did the driver know the Houndour was there?"

"Ooh, I know this one!" Iris said and even raised her hand before realizing who the riddle was for, and lowered it again, smiling nervously. "Sorry," she said. "Habit."

Kris was just stunned, she looked at Iris for guidance, but Iris just shrugged, leaving Kris to her own devices. Blaine had his arms folded as he waited for Kris to get it.

"Um, okay, Houndour," Kris said to herself, drawing nothing but blanks in her mind. "A canine Pokémon native to Johto and Kanto. But there are no black roads over here, are there? Are there black roads in Unova, Iris? No, wait, never mind, you're not supposed to help me. Suppose it's someone's pet... but why would it be sleeping in the middle of a road? Or was it a street? Why would it be doing it anyway? Isn't that dangerous? Then again, how many people in Kanto and Johto use cars for anything other than transporting stuff and people around? Rich douchebags, maybe, but even they know better and use the electric ones..."

Kris mumbled out possible solutions to herself, though she had gone off the rails already. Blaine just smiled to himself while Iris kept wringing her hands, clearly wanting to show Blaine that she knew the answer.

"Well?" Blaine asked after a few minutes had passed.

"Okay, I think I got it," Kris said and took a deep breath before going off: "So, if the motorist really lives in Kanto, Johto or those other places with no need to own a car, he's clearly an irresponsible douchenozzle, which speaks of poor moral character, which brings me to another question: what he was doing driving around in the middle of the night, in a place with no lights, no less? Was it the seedy part of some big town? It was, so the driver is obviously a man going to cheat on his wife and he didn't steer around the Houndour, he was blind drunk and accidentally took a turn – you just left out the part where he drives off a ramp and dies in a fiery explosion, his wife collecting the life insurance and living on her own happily ever after, doing everything she had wanted to do but his abusive drunk of a husband prevented her from."

Blaine and Iris just stared.

Then, to both Kris' and Iris' surprise, Blaine started laughing. Even his Magmar was confused, as if the sound was alien to it. Iris clearly couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Kris!" she scolded. "It was daytime!"

Kris frowned.

"...oh, right, good one," she finally said. "Though couldn't you have have said it beforehand?"

Blaine just laughed, briefly removing his sunglasses to wipe his eyes, though he quickly put them back before Kris and Iris saw anything. After he finally stopped, Blaine took a deep breath, suddenly walked over to Kris and shook her hand.

"I like the cut of your jib, miss," he said as he squeezed Kris' hand a little too roughly – Kris could feel Blaine had plenty of scars and blisters in his hand, and noticed his other hand was covered by a black glove. "And based on what Elm told me, it's definitely you. So nice to finally meet you! Your name was Kris, wasn't it? Oh, sorry!" he said and let go when he noticed he was accidentally hurting Kris with his jovial handshake.

"'sallright," Kris said, but winced as she cradled her hand. "It takes my mind off the butt pain. Wait, what do you mean, 'based on what Elm told you'?"

"Good to see you too!" Blaine said warmly to Iris, ignoring Kris. Iris was about to hug him, but Blaine took a step back. "Ah, no hugging!" he said quickly. "That's how they bug you... oh, what the hell!"

Blaine practically lifted the giggling Iris off ground as he hugged her. As he put her back down, he waved at Magmar, who nodded and walked over to something resembling a submarine periscope.

"Thanks!" Blaine told his Pokémon, then signaled Kris and Iris to follow him. "Just making sure no one's sneaking about. Come on, let's go upstairs! Iris, how are your studies going?"

"Very well, thanks!" Iris replied as they climbed up the rickety stairs. "That info you gave me last time was really helpful, though I'm not sure all the professors believed me."

"Well, if you convinced even a few, then it was worth it," Blaine said.

The ground floor of the building was smaller than the basement, and lit up by bright lamps scattered about as no daylight got in through the boarded windows. There were computers and lab apparatus scattered about, as well as papers everywhere, scattered on the floor and tables and pinned on the wall. In one corner, there was a makeshift kitchen and a coffee maker, and next to it an open cabinet.

Kris tensed up a bit when she saw a pump-action shotgun in the cabinet – she hadn't seen an actual firearm outside video games, and few owned them as Pokémon did the job better, as did Silph-built energy weapons and Tasers.

Blaine noticed what Kris was looking at. "Ah, the old 12-gauge," he grunted. "Don't worry, I haven't been using it here... yet. I'm sorry that I don't have anything to offer you, I'm a lousy cook and I usually get my food off the canteen... well, I bring it here for testing before me and Magmar eat it. It sleeps over there," he added and pointed at a large fireplace.

Moving around in the room was tough due to how cramped it was, but Kris and Iris managed to find chairs that didn't have a ton of a paper on them.

"So," Kris said, "mister Bl– I mean, doctor-"

"Just call me Blaine," the scientist said. "You too, Iris. I haven't been a professional scientist in years, none of my former colleagues use the title, might as well cut the crap."

"Okay," Kris said. "Professor Elm told me you could help me with something."

"Yes, yes, he told me on the phone," Blaine hurried. "No matter how much I tell him to use a more secure way of communicating. Hmph! Still, gotta love the guy. Anyway, you want to enter the Silver Conference? I don't blame ya: it only comes a few times in a Pokémon trainer's lifetime, and it's better to do it while you're young and hungry than when you're middle-aged and tied with a job and kids."

"Well, I don't want the latter and no one will give me the former," Kris pointed out, "but I'm still taking the chance while I still can."

"I like that," Blaine nodded. "But you have to get in without the usual route of having at least eight badges on hand."

"Well, I have one!" Kris said quickly, but remembered that Iris was sitting next to her when she quietly added: "Not that I deserve even that..."

"I have contacts with the Legendary Pokémon Society!" Blaine announced. "But I must warn you: these guys deal with stuff you're not used to back in your little village. You think you're up to it?"

"Wha...?" Kris was taken aback by Blaine's suddenly grave tone. Then again, the guy was crazy – in a more nice way than others, but still crazy. "Yes, I am! Blaine, this has been my lifelong dream! Yeah, yeah, I know, childish crap or whatever, but it's all I've got."

"You sure about that?" Blaine asked. "You're alive, aren't ya? You have a friend," he gestured at Iris, who wasn't paying too much attention to the conversation as she was feeding her Axew. "You have Pokémon. And you've been... well, maybe not _well_ -fed, but fed anyway."

Kris felt a lecture approaching. "Well, if you're not gonna help me-"

"Oh, I am, I promised to ol' Elm already," Blaine said casually. "Just making sure you understand that this is not going to be easy. And the LPS doesn't look kindly to people entering the trials – even members of the dragon clan had to put up with scorn and hazing. And I wouldn't recommend associating with the monks who run it, anyway. They're dedicated and they'll do it because they have to, but that doesn't mean they'll like it – especially for some pimply little runt from the sticks."

"Blaine!" Iris said suddenly and almost dropped her Axew. "Since when you did become so-"

"No, he's right," Kris said, staring at where she believed Blaine's eyes were – that technician hadn't been exaggerating. "At least, that's how those guys will see me."

Blaine nodded. "But if you're truly as convinced as Elm says you are, I'll make the call and arrange a meeting with them – on one condition."

"Here we go," Kris sighed and slumped in her chair.

"Consider this preparation for those trials," Blaine smiled. "Now, I'm about to tell you something... Iris, you know the deal already," he added. "If you don't want to listen to all this again, there's a healing machine in the back room. It's a bit different from most, you actually have to put the Pokémon _inside_ it, so it only works on smaller ones, but it's the only one I could fit in this shack."

"Well, my Pokémon are all right," Iris said, "and we didn't run into any battles between this place and Violet. But, uh, Kris, I think it would be a good idea to check up on the Sandshrew, don't you think?"

Kris felt a sting in her stomach as Iris said it – it didn't sound like it, but Kris was almost sure Iris was trying to guilt-trip her. Nonetheless, she had a point.

"You're right," Kris said and opened Shrew's Poké Ball.

Iris was indeed right – as the little yellow Pokémon materialized in Kris' lap, it was sleeping but breathing heavily, the bruises on its head still looking bad.

The moment the Sandshrew got out of its ball, a device in Blaine's pocket lit up and started beeping like crazy. Blaine was confused by it for a moment, then turned his head in the Sandshrew's direction, his mouth slightly open.

"What's that?" Iris asked as she took the Sandshrew gently from Kris.

Blaine didn't reply immediately – he removed the battery from the device to stop the obnoxious beeping and then stared at the Sandshrew, slightly frowning.

"Nothing you should worry about," Blaine said tensely, still (presumably) keeping his eyes on the Pokémon. "But it looks like it could use some healing. Go on."

Iris retreated into the back room, and Blaine instantly walked to a radio next to the coffee maker and turned it on:

" _...his fate leaving the nation asking: won't anyone look after the most oppressed of us all: the wealthy? We'll answer you that as we cover the 'Aid for the Loaded' benefit concert. In other news, residents in the Goldenrod area have reported sightings of people in black uniforms. The police assure that 'everything is fine' and assure that they're infallible. In our opinion, everything is horrible, so please, be as paranoid as you can, and don't believe what they tell you - as long as you believe us. This has been Johto news-"_

"This should be safer, I think," Blaine muttered over the sound of the radio.

"For what?" Kris wondered and suddenly grabbed the sides of her chair tensely. "A-are you gonna murder me and the radio is there to cover the screams?"

"What? No! Sheesh... I'm going to tell you something."

"Something top-secret?" Kris asked. "'Cause I don't know if you can trust me with information like that..."

"In all honesty, it would be good if more people knew," Blaine grumbled. "But there are certain groups who might be listening in... like the committee, for instance. And then there's the – well, you'll see. Speaking of which, has someone tried to make you swallow something recently? Seen any white helicopters that might have been black before a paint job?"

"No and no."

"Good," Blaine said and took a wrinkled piece of paper from his back pocket and showed it to Kris. "Do you know what Pokémon this is?" he asked, referring to a drawing on the paper.

It was an artist's impression of a supposedly mythical Pokémon. It was floating in the air, resembling a sort of pink cat with big, baby blue eyes and with hind legs like a rabbit. It also seemed to have an enormous-

"That's the tail!" Blaine said quickly as he swiped the picture from Kris. "Anyway, I'm guessing you don't know what it is, but I'm sure you've heard the name before. It's Mew."

" _That's_ Mew?" Kris said. "I was expecting something with battle armor and cannons sticking out of its back. It was kinda cute, though – can I see it again?"

"No," Blaine grunted, wrinkled the paper into a ball and put it back in his pocket. "You see, about five years ago, I was… I worked for the Pokémon Laboratory in Cinnabar. I was the lead geneticist of a certain, well, 'project'. Project Mewtwo."

Kris' senses sharpened as she stared at Blaine intently. She had to listen very carefully, as Blaine talked as if the shack was full of eavesdropping people, and the radio was still on, playing some sort of marching music.

"The goal of the project was to create the world's strongest Pokémon," Blaine explained. "I should have known back then that something was wrong, but the idea fascinated me. I knew the consequences, and still I co-operated… with them. Team Rocket."

Blaine spat the last two words, and grumpily folded his arms as he started pacing around the shack.

"Giovanni offered to fund the project," Blaine said bitterly, forgetting to lower his voice. "Even though we all knew what he was capable of, we agreed. We were given more money than any of us had seen in our lives, and I was given the opportunity to work on something that no other scientist ever could. I offered to create an artificial Pokémon, itself something unforeseen back then, as Porygon wasn't created until a while after that. But Giovanni insisted that we use Mew's DNA. We tried to explain to him that it couldn't be done… well, all of us except Junior…"

"Um... who?" Kris asked, reluctant to interrupt Blaine but desperately wanting more info.

"Junior," Blaine repeated and looked at Kris "Oh, right, you don't know… the Pokémon Lab was founded by Mr. Fuji about fifty years ago, to study the mysteries surrounding Pokémon. Fuji was the kindest person I ever met – probably the only one who'd recruit someone like me…"

Blaine didn't seem to mind that Kris didn't really get the nuances of his story, as he seemed to tell it to himself more than others. It was like he hadn't talked with anyone in a long while.

"By the time of the Mewtwo Project, Fuji had already retired, and his son, who we called Junior, took his place as the administrator. Fuji Sr. did live on the island then, but he was mostly just an adviser. He opposed the project, while his own son was its most ardent supporter. Shortly before the project, he had, um… lost his daughter. Junior was very interested in cloning, feeling that it was the key to reviving his lost child. I don't know exactly how he did it, but Junior was able to lead an expedition to some island far away and retrieve something he believed to be a part of Mew…"

"Junior and I shared the position of project leader. He developed some advanced cloning techniques while I created the synthesized tissue for our new Pokémon. Even then, we had surprisingly little contact and I didn't really see any of Fuji's experiments, but there were rumors… rumors that many Pokémon he had cloned had died…"

"It was thanks to me that we succeeded. I, uh… I managed to use a sample of my own DNA and fuse it with Mew's to get the perfect result."

Blaine fiddled with his gloved hand during a few seconds of silence before continuing.

"'We dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokémon'," Blaine quoted, '"and we succeeded'. Those were Junior's last words. I remember the day well. Mewtwo had been... born a week before. There was a celebration, but I didn't take any part in it. While Mewtwo slept, I educated the creature, told it what it was, told it about its powers, told it bedtime stories... I don't know if it understood me… but I knew already that it had powerful psychic abilities and could potentially kill us all if it wanted to."

"When Junior found out that I was practically living in the lab, he forced me to take a day off. I spent the day wondering what they'd do with my… with Mewtwo. Later that day, it seems that Mewtwo had … grown up. It destroyed the lab and practically everyone in it and escaped. I ran to the lab just in time to meet that slimeball Giovanni… he was furious, but I couldn't care less about _him_. Only Giovanni, Fuji Sr. and myself know that I had just created a monster… well, _monster_ _s_. And Mewtwo is still on the run. Fuji was devastated and moved away from Cinnabar. A new laboratory was created, a new staff was hired and now they research boring things like TM's, items, fossils and whatever. "

Blaine didn't sound too sad about the death of his colleagues. In fact, he told the story passionately, and his voice didn't crack once. Apparently he had gotten over the stage of grief – or, if Kris had to guess, he had never grieved at all.

The door to the backroom was opened, and Iris stepped out, holding the Sandshrew in her arms – Kris noticed it was in better shape already, and not breathing as heavily, though still sleeping. Blaine glanced at the Sandshrew briefly before continuing.

"Since then, I've wanted to find Mewtwo," Blaine said. "For the longest time, I've worked alone, but then _he_ came."

Blaine looked at Kris expectantly, and Kris decided to play out her part.

"He?" she asked, knowing that Blaine would tell her anyway.

"Red," Blaine said quietly, and Kris got really interested now, focusing herself entirely to listening. "The legendary Pokémon trainer who defeated Team Rocket when it was on the verge of taking over Kanto. What they were really after was the Master Ball, a prototype Poké Ball capable of capturing any Pokémon in the world without fail. It would be Giovanni's ultimate weapon."

"I met Red when he first challenged my gym – he was one of the few who managed to find the key I had hidden in the abandoned lab, and as I had hoped, he also discovered the journals I placed there that referred to Mew and Mewtwo. He didn't ask me about it then, though. He came, beat me like it was not even a thing and left, barely saying a word."

"I met him again when Cinnabar was in chaos – this was before the volcano erupted. A rampaging Moltres was about to destroy the place, but Red managed to tame the beast and make it return to its nest at Mt. Ember. I knew then that this person could be trusted with finding Mewtwo. And he trusted me with another secret of his: he had amassed a small group of friends and loyal followers with him to investigate two things: the remnants of Team Rocket and a far-reaching conspiracy... something terrible."

Blaine decided it was time for a dramatic pause. Kris stared at Blaine, and even Iris, who had presumably heard the story before, was interested.

"Then what?"

"Mmm... I think that's enough for now, to be honest," Blaine said in a lighter tone. "It's time to talk business. You want me to help you, right?"

Blaine motioned Kris and Iris to follow him to the backroom. Now that Kris saw it in full, she saw a broken, dirty mattress in the corner that Blaine apparently slept on, and a healing machine for Pokémon taking up most of the space. There was also a bookshelf, which Blaine easily moved aside to reveal the mouth of a dark tunnel, supposedly leading down into the catacombs below.

"...okay, our house didn't have that," Iris observed.

"Listen closely," Blaine said. "If you want my help, you'll have to do something for me. There's an item invaluable to my research somewhere in those catacombs, and if those bastard scientists digging out here find it, well, let's just say it's gonna be a real drag for everyone."

"There's gonna be crossdressing involved?" Kris wondered.

"You two have flashlights?" Blaine inquired.

"Ooh, I do!" Iris said.

She placed the Sandshrew on the ground, finally causing it to wake up, as she pulled a flashlight from her bag. Kris just shrugged.

"Sorry, I did seriously consider it," she said, "but I needed to make room for my books."

Blaine handed her a flashlight, as well as a piece of rope.

"I don't know about Iris, but I'm not particularly in the mood for _those_ kind of games..."

"Okay, enough already," Blaine grunted. "And about that rope – you'll never know when you're gonna need one. Haven't you ever seen a movie?"

"...was that a rhetorical question?" Kris asked.

"You want us to go down there?" Iris said with a slight tremble in her voice as she turned on her flashlight and tried to see the end of the tunnel, to no avail. "Well... why can't you go retrieve the thing yourself?"

"Well, I've spent my time at these digs isolating myself from every pencilneck scientist and pot-bellied technician here," Blaine said mildly defensively. "If I go down there, who's gonna come look for me if I get lost? That place is a maze, and I love Magmar and everything, but she can't operate a walkie. Speaking of which..."

Blaine took out one half of a pair of walkies and was about to hand it to Kris, but after slight hesitation, gave it to Iris instead. Kris did not mind this at all.

"Um, yyyeaaah..." she said and gulped. "Listen, Blaine, I really, really, really don't wanna go down there. I..." She glanced at Iris, embarrassed. "I have bad experiences with tombs and catacombs and caves and whatnot..."

"What, did a cave kill your parents or something?" Blaine asked impatiently.

"Unfortunately no," Kris said seriously. "But I – can't I do anything else for you? You said you were a lousy cook – I can boil really juicy water. I just don't like, well, ruins. Are there any Pokémon over there?"

"Shouldn't be," Blaine shrugged, "although I swear I saw something emitting a blue light... maybe a ghost-type Pokémon."

"Oh, great," Kris moaned. "Ghosts were the one thing missing from the equation."

Iris grabbed Kris' hand and smiled encouragingly.

"Don't worry," she said, "I'm not exactly thrilled about going down there, but I'll still be with you! And think of the secrets we'll discover. Besides, we have Shrew with us – Sandshrew are really good diggers, so if anything happens-"

"Nothing's gonna happen, though, I'll be here with the radio," Blaine promised. "And speaking of which... where and when did you find that Sandshrew? I'm curious. It... its wounds look pretty bad, is all..."

Kris wondered why Blaine decided to ask it so suddenly, but as this was the guy who could alter her future, she decided to be honest. "Earlier today," she said. "Right near the Violet City Pokémon Center."

Blaine nodded. "Off you go then," he said and nudged Kris and Iris closer to the tunnel. "Get in the hole – er, tunnel. And, uh, I'd recommend letting the Sandshrew go first. I have feeling he'll help you sniff out what I'm after. Based on my books, it should be in a locked, metal chest, though a very, _very_ old one so one of your Pokémon should crack with ease. Move along, then!"

Kris and Iris glanced at each other, but without any other options, they shrugged and approached the tunnel's mouth. Kris lifted Shrew to let it look at the tunnel, but the moment it did so, it squealed in terror, wrapped its hands around Kris and buried its head in her top, making Kris feel a bit awkward.

"There... there?" she muttered, patting the Sandshrew on the head. "Shrew, it'll be all right. There's no wild Pokémon there – or if there are, they're nothing to worry about. You don't have to fight this time." Shrew blinked and looked up at its new trainer. "I just need you to do something for me: find a metal treasure chest containing an artifact somewhere within those catacombs. Got that?"

Shrew nodded, and, while still frightened, climbed on the mouth of the tunnel and started descending. Iris went after it, showing the way with her flashlight, though Shrew didn't seem to need it. Kris inhaled deeply, but went in after them anyway despite every cell in her body screaming against this decision.

**~o~O~o~**

It was darker than Kris had ever thought possible inside the underground catacombs. Soon enough, Kris, Iris and Shrew reached the end of the tunnel and were walking on solid stone floor, the light from Blaine's shack long behind them, making the flashlights their only source of light. Allowing Iris and Shrew to walk first, Kris pointed her flashlight on the walls.

There were letters of some sort on the walls – thousands, probably millions of letters, though they didn't seem to form any cohesive words. Even stranger, these letters all had big circles in the middle of them.

They looked like eyes. Millions of eyes staring at them as they walked down the narrow corridor, Shrew walking on all fours and sniffing the ground like a Houndour.

"Kris," Iris whispered suddenly – almost making Kris jump. Kris had no idea why Iris had lowered her voice to a whisper, though. "What do you think this place was for?"

Kris found herself answering in whisper too: "I don't know. Do you know these things on the walls?"

Kris and Iris stopped to read the writing, but couldn't really figure out anything about it. Iris stared at the letters for a moment, then shook her head.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Kris said nervously, trying to keep the tension out. "This game called ' _Creepy Catacomb Crawl_ '. It starts out with the phrase 'you are in a twisty maze of passages'... well, there hasn't been much twists yet, though, but still."

"What happened in that game?" Iris asked.

"Um..." Kris tried to recollect to the last time she had played the game. "It usually always ends the same way. I get killed by a Garbodor or something equally icky before I get to the treasure at the end."

Kris and Iris stared at each other in silence for a while, then Iris cleared her throat.

"We, um, should probably keep moving," she said.

"Quite."

Kris spared one last look at the mysterious writing. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the "letters" weren't even painted on, but actually engraved into the stone. Kris reached out to touch one of the letters.

Then she felt her head split open.

 _Kris wasn't in the catacombs anymore – she was above ground, but the sky was hellish red and dark purple and a huge storm threw about trees, pieces of buildings and people – yet Kris didn't feel anything but a splitting pain in her head as she saw people in strange clothing running from a purple, all-consuming ball of fire that kept closer and closer – Kris could almost smell the burning_ -

" **KRIS**!"

As she woke up, Kris found herself on her back on the cold stone floor, feeling more pain in her backside. Iris and Shrew had knelt above her, Iris dripping with sweat and looking terrified.

"Are you okay?" Iris asked, relieved as Kris opened her eyes.

Kris wasn't sure how to answer that question. Her head still throbbed like crazy, but there was no trace of what she had just seen... and yet it had felt like a purple ball of fire had just burned everything around her. Holding her forehead with her hands, Kris got up.

"A-are you an epileptic?" Iris asked delicately. "'Cause, it's okay if you are, I just think you could have mentioned than in passing before..."

"Thanks for your concern, but no," Kris muttered. "I'm anemic, though. And lactose-intolerant, though I don't think there was any buttermilk in that wall... and I've been fine since we left," she added to Iris, who looked almost irritatingly worried. "I don't know what just happened..."

Iris shook her head – the mere of sight that caused Kris' headache to get worse – and touched the wall herself, but nothing happened to her.

"We should ask Blaine about this," Iris said, still eyeing Kris with concern as she grabbed the walkie that Blaine had given her. "Blaine, are you there?" she said, speaking into the walkie while pressing the only button in it.

However, white noise was her only response.

"Blaine, are you there?" Iris repeated. "We can't be _that_ deep yet!"

"Just leave it," Kris said, her eyes tightly shut – the headache was subsiding, but she still felt the aftereffects. "We're on our own. We should get going, like you said."

Though not hearing about Blaine made Iris a bit more panicky, Kris was too confused by her sudden experience to even be scared. The two walked in the corridor in complete silence until they came to a fork in the road, one leading left and the other leading right. The trio came to a halt, Shrew getting on two legs and sniffing the air.

Iris looked at Kris for guidance.

"If you're gonna say 'let's split up, gang', I'll end you," Kris muttered, though with a nervous smile.

Iris laughed – in a somewhat forced way, though.

"Trust me, I don't want that," she said. "But... well, I can't think of any other options, to be honest. I could try to use Axew for that-"

Kris suddenly noticed sudden rustling in Iris' enormous bush of hair. _So_ that's _where the darn thing had been hiding!_

"Axew!" Iris scolded the Pokémon. "I know it's dark and scary out here, but-"

But Shrew had made the decision for them, as it started running towards the path leading to the left. It then stopped and looked over its shoulder, as if expecting something.

Kris and Iris both sighed in relief and started following Shrew. And again, complete silence took over as only the sounds of footsteps were heard.

"Hey, Iris," Kris said after a long period of silence and some more left turns.

"Yeah?"

"Am I the only one who got slightly pervy vibes of us 'squeezing into Blaine's hole'?"

"Um... can't we talk about something else?" Iris pleaded.

"Sure – actually, forget I said that. Uh, what do you wanna talk about?"

"How about that? Just don't touch it this time."

Iris stopped again to point at something with her flashlight, forcing Kris and the suddenly very eager Sandshrew to stop as well. There was another wall carving, but something else than the seemingly endless rows of odd letters. It was a drawing of three Pokémon forming a triangle, with two at the bottom and one, a vaguely horse-like creature with what was possibly the sun surrounding it, at the top. The drawing was made in very simplistic style, but Kris assumed them to be a triumvirate of Pokémon. In the middle of the triangle was an infinity symbol.

"This make sense to you, Miss college student?" Kris asked Iris.

Iris shook her head. "I've read about myths, but mainly Unova ones. Plus this drawing doesn't resemble any style I know. I don't think this is going to help us find the thing Blaine is after, though."

And with that acknowledgment, Kris and Iris traveled on.

After another series of left turns, one right turn and descending down some stairs, Kris and Iris started to worry again – nothing was lunging at them from the darkness, but it was getting increasingly colder and only static came through the walkie.

Finally, Shrew sprinted forward and into what seemed to be a larger chamber. Kris and Iris followed, passing through an archway as they stepped into the chamber that was incredibly large, the ceiling most likely going all the way up to the surface. The walls were full of writing and drawings similar to the one they saw before. The chamber was full of old pillars that didn't seem to support anything, but were also full of engravings.

Kris and Iris searched the chamber with their flashlights, noticing entrances to more tunnels on every wall, which got Kris a little anxious. Iris was clearly thinking along similar lines.

"Why didn't we pull a Theseus or something to mark the way out?" she lamented. "This place goes on forever..."

"I didn't see _300_ ," Kris muttered, "but I don't think that'll be an issue. Shrew'll help us, right Shrew?"

Shrew responded by sudden enthusiastic squealing from the corner. Kris and Iris directed their flashlights there, seeing Shrew sniffing a small metal chest like crazy. On the wall behind the chest was a huge illustration that covered a huge chunk of the wall, reaching up to ten feet, forcing Kris and Iris to back down to see it. Though carved in the same, simplistic style as the earlier pictures, this one was clearer: it was a Pokémon with no discernible facial features, but it clearly had six legs, six wings and six claws, three on each side.

While Iris stared at the engraving in awe, Kris shook herself out of it and focused on the chest. After both Kris and Shrew unsuccessfully tried to jimmy it open, Kris decided to carry it with her, as it was fairly small and light.

"Kris," Iris whispered as she continued to stare at the six-legged creature. "Stop me if this is too random, but seeing all this stuff makes me wonder... do you think there's any truth to all those myths we've heard about? You know, the heroes of Unova, the Original One, whoever inhabited these ruins, that kind of stuff."

"Normally I would stop you," Kris said as she admired the treasure they had just found, "but I'm feeling in a good mood here. And to be honest, I don't really think about it that much – at least not anymore. I mean, yeah, my grandmother is pretty deeply into this stuff and I was too, for a while. She's a true believer, I guess. My parents _say_ they're too, at some point, but I dunno, every action they've taken would say otherwise." After a pause, Kris felt she shouldn't maybe talk about herself all the time. "You?" she added.

"I dunno either," Iris said quietly, still looking at the wall. "I mean, I've been focusing on scientific research my whole life, so I thought there's little room for speculation – turns out half of the stuff I've studied _is_ speculation. And myths have played a large part of that."

"Well, this box sure ain't no speculation," Kris said, and as she couldn't help herself, she added: "Not that it'll do me much good if I fail the actual trials."

"C'mon!" Iris groaned. "Will you stop wallowing already? You won't know until you've tried! And I've said it before and I'll say it again: I know you'll go far. You've got that winner spirit in you, Christine!"

Kris sighed. "I have no idea where you've got that," she snapped. "My name is not short for Christine. It's spelled with a frickin' kay! K-R-I-S!"

Iris took her eyes off the wall carving and stared at Kris. "Wait... with a 'kay'? But... there was a girl with a presentation, her name was spelled Christine - dark hair, pasty, kinda standoffish..."

"Believe me, I was not standoffish in school," Kris scoffed. "Sit-downish, more like. Maybe walk-overish. And I have no idea what presentation you're thinking of! Yeah, mine was a middle finger to the whole school, but more in a literal sense, I was pissing myself with fear when I heard we had to do oral presentations and I hated the place anyway so I just winged it. Hmm, come to think of it, I probably would have tossed myself out, too."

Iris stared at Kris as realization seemed to dawn on her, but was snapped out of it by a sudden loud male voice echoing in the chamber:

" _Finally, I was about to crazy in here! You know there's nothing to read in here besides these hieroglyphs? A pity these didn't come up as I studied the ancient languages._ "

It wasn't Blaine – this voice was more boisterous, with an air of obnoxious pretension. Kris and Iris pointed their flashlights upwards, noticing a tall man standing on top of one of the pillars, though they couldn't see his face.

" _Well, let's waste no more time. Ars longa, vita brevis and all that, and I have plenty of ars to chase. Hand over that box you're carrying, will you_?"

"Well, I'd like to," Kris said, slowly inching towards the way she came in, "but, well, I actually don't, and we've been searching this place for Arceus knows how long and it would all be kinda pointless if I, well, you know the deal. So no, you're not gonna get it."

" _Yeah, I'd really love to make this up for you_ ," the man shouted, " _I did observe you coming in and all that, and I've been sitting here waiting to ambush you. It's not easy being me, you know. This took a crapload of planning and all that time would be wasted if_ you _don't give the box to_ me! _Me!_ "

Kris and Iris exchanged confused looks – Shrew hid behind Kris' leg, and Kris could feel the little Pokémon shaking, wondering just how much all that head damage had traumatized it.

"Yeah, sorry!" Kris shouted at the man, prodding Iris to move towards the exit too. "But no dice, better luck next time, kaythanksbye!"

Grabbing the Sandshrew under her spare arm, Kris dashed towards the exit with Iris in tow, though Iris quickly ran past her as a Sandshrew was surprisingly heavy. But as the mystery man snapped his fingers, a heavy stone door came down from the archway and closed the exit right in front of Iris' face.

"How did you do that?" Iris asked the man.

"Magic!" he announced.

Kris and Iris just stared.

"Okay, fine, I've got my Pokémon minions working the controls of this place," the man admitted. "Impressive hydraulics, by the way. Considering how the people who built this place had their act together, it's like humanity is just getting stupider. Good job, minions! Now, the box please, thank you!"

Kris started breathing heavily – this guy was not part of the plan. Maybe Blaine wasn't so crazy after all. But whatever was in that box was Kris' ticket to those "trials" she heard much about – her once-in-a-lifetime chance was here and she would now blow it.

"Come and get it," Kris spat. "Shrew, attack him!"

But Shrew reacted by hooking its claws into Kris' top and climbing under her coat, attaching itself to Kris' back, making Kris look like Quasimodo's offspring. Kris sighed.

"I'm _not_ using Croc," she told Iris. "Can you...?"

"Okay," Iris said, clearly scared herself, but at least willing to fight. "Axew!"

The green, big-eyed little dragon-type jumped out of Iris' hair and on the floor, growling at the man standing high on top of the pillar, who responded with derisive laughter.

"Well isn't that adorable!" he mocked. "And a rarity, at that. I could make a bundle selling it to one of those pokémaniacs who hang out at the Goldenrod underground, but I'm feeling even more jovial than usual, so I'll just take the box, thank you!"

"Axew, Dragon Pulse!"

But before Axew could attack, razor-sharp leaves flew from on top of another pillar, slashing Axew's face and body, knocking it out with a single attack.

"Thank you, Victreebel!" the man said cheerfully. "Now, as I was saying-"

"We don't care!" Iris snapped, surprising even Kris with her suddenly harsh tone. Iris readied another Poké Ball "Excadrill, g-"

But the man's Victreebel was once again faster, a green vine suddenly emerging and wrapping itself around Kris' neck. Kris dropped on her knees, panicking as she tried to pry the vine off, but it only made it squeeze harder. Kris tried to draw for breath, but failed, and Shrew merely shuddered in fright inside Kris' jacket.

With that, the mystery man jumped down from the pillar and in front of the duo, finally hitting the beam of Iris' flashlight. He over six feet tall and sported an impressive black mustache, and was wearing a fully black uniform and had covered his eyes with a domino mask.

"Yes, 'tis I!" he announced. "The ruler of anarchy, the hero of social upheaval, the master of the oppressed everywhere! Missile! No, it was not what my mother preferred."

"I don't care!" Iris yelled in panic and tossed the metal chest to Missile, who caught it easily. "Let go of my friend!"

"But of course!" Missile said and snapped his fingers again – his Victreebel, apparently positioned on the pillar behind Kris, let go of her neck, causing Kris to gasp for air. Iris grabbed the unconscious Axew under her arm as the Victreebel jumped down next to its owner, showing the duo its cavernous mouth and razor-sharp teeth.

"I wouldn't try anything if I were you," Missile warned. "Victreebel, hammer, please."

Victreebel use its vine to pull something from its humongous mouth – a sledgehammer that Missile grabbed with one hand, as if to show off.

"Who the hell are you?" Iris wondered.

Missile looked confused. "Well, I just told you, didn't I? D-doesn't the uniform give it off...? I mean, I just washed it before this gig. Look at this fine stitching around the huge, fuchsia-colored 'R' in my chest! Ring any bells?"

"You're a Magnet Train conductor?" Kris asked hoarsely as she rubbed her neck – that was the second time today someone had attacked her there and it was really getting old.

"Wait, are you a Nazi?" Iris asked and looked at Kris with concern. "Is this a Nazi, Kris? I mean, does Johto have a thriving community of extreme right-wingers?"

Missile threw his arms in the air dramatically. "Team Rocket! I mean, _Neo_ Team Rocket!" he shouted. "Hello? The scourge of Kanto? Well, I came up with that one myself, actually. We are legion and we're back – with a vengeance. Hence the fabulous 'R'!"

"Yeah, right," Kris scoffed – perhaps not the smartest thing to do to a man with a sledgehammer and a huge carnivorous plant ready to digest anyone by its master's command, but she didn't care. She had lost the goddamn box. "They're disbanded. That guy, that _hero_ Red took all of you guys out! And you can buy those uniforms off the rack in a place that sells Halloween costumes! I bet you're some random freak with no real content in his life who just pretends to be a Team Rocket member to get his rocks off."

"LIES!" Missile shouted suddenly and raised his sledgehammer, causing Kris and Iris to back down. "You will regret those words, young lady," he said as he pointed them with the hammer. "When they find your skeletons here years later, the only thing you'll be remembered for is 'talking smack at Missile'! Speaking of which, time's wasting!"

Without so much as a warning, Missile swung his sledgehammer and cracked the base of the pillar he was standing next to. Kris and Iris looked up and were briefly frozen by terror as the pillar crashed into the one next to it, causing an uncontrollable chain reaction as the whole chamber began to shake.

Iris tried to reach out for a Poké Ball in panic, attempting to recall Axew and dropping her flashlight in the process, stumbling about and causing Kris to lose sight of her. Kris ran in the opposite direction, trying to go for one of the other exits and ignoring the chaos around her.

Thinking she found one, she had to dodge as a pillar slowly fell in her direction, forcing her to throw herself down on the floor as flat as she could, causing her flashlight to hit the ground.

It was now pitch black, and Kris heard nothing but the deafening sound of stone pillars crumbling down for a few minutes. Desperate to get away from the chaos, Kris tried to pull herself up, Shrew still weighing down her back, forcing her to grab one of the walls for support.

Then she remembered why that was a bad idea.

_Oh, fu-_

For the second time today, Kris felt like her head was being squeezed in a vise.

_Again, there was the hellish red and purple and black sky, the storm, the people fleeing in panic, all wearing strange clothes, some wearing armor. There were Pokémon running around, though no Poké Balls or the familiar red flashes that came from them. An Arcanine and a Houndoom were attacking something that most seemed to flee from._

_And in the middle of the chaos, there were hundreds, maybe thousands of little black, floating Pokémon, each the shape of a letter and with one, huge eye in the middle. Some were randomly floating around, but most have gathered to form a huge sphere that floated in the air, a purple vortex in the middle of it._

_As the Pokémon floated by eerily, they didn't attack and seemingly didn't do anything, but all other noises were drowned out as they seemed to emit a strange, high-pitched sound in unison:_

" _Uuuuunooooownnnn..._ "

_A young man with dark hair wearing a leather armor commanded a Manectric to attack the gigantic sphere, but to no avail. An older man in tattered clothing ran to him ad grabbed him by the arm._

" _Lunick!" the old man yelled, clearly out of breath._

" _Did you get the monks?" the young man called._

" _Lunick, they're... those creatures that came from the vortex... they_ ate _them all!_ "

_The young man looked away from the messenger, steeling himself. The older man was on the verge of a breakdown, desperately grabbing the younger man's armor by the chest._

" _I warned you all, didn't I?" the old man ranted. "The signs were clear! We should have never associated so closely with Pokémon! We're paying the price now! We're going to die!_ "

" _...maybe not all of us," Lunick said tensely and pushed the old man away. "Get a hold of yourself! Search the main area for any civilians and get them out of here, then give the order to retreat._ "

_The old man only half-listened, as something emerged from the purple, rapidly spinning vortex. Kris could barely see it: it was a very small, innocous-looking Pokémon that was barely two feet tall and had long, wavy green hair. But something about it sent chills down Kris' spine, how it just floated serenely despite the chaos around it, its eyes closed._

_Then, a reverberating female voice grasped the attention of everyone, human and Pokémon alike:_

" _ **All of you. We do not wish any further harm upon you. Give us what we need and the destruction will stop. All we need is the Griseous Orb. The rightful leader of both this world and the one beyond requires it.**_ "

" _Of course," Lunick muttered. "Go do what I said, now!" he ordered the old man, who stumbled away. "You three!" Lunick ordered two female soldiers and their Mightyena. "Come with me, I have a plan!_ "

**~o~O~o~**

Kris woke up with a gasp, this time not even caring about the headache as she got up, then almost fell over again, her senses confused by the pitch-black darkness. The rumbling and shouting had stopped, replaced by utter silence.

"Iris," Kris hissed, whispering as loud as she could manage without actually raising her voice.

There was no answer.

"Shrew?"

A frightened squeal was answer.

Kris knelt and tried to feel her way around the floor, doing her best to avoid where she thought the walls were. Finally, her hands brushed a shivering ball on the floor that she presumed was her Sandshrew.

"It's me," Kris said reassuringly. "It's all right, the danger is over... I hope."

Kris heard Shrew uncurling itself.

"Listen, Shrew. You can sniff your way out of here, right?"

Another frightened squeal. Kris hoped it meant yes.

"Okay, just hang on a second... crap! My stupid flashlight is gone. You're just gonna-?"

" _Did you say 'fleshlight'?_ "

Kris heard the voice echo from somewhere close by. Unfortunately, it wasn't Iris.

"Missile," Kris said, breathing heavily and practically hearing her rapid heartbeat. "Stay close to me," she whispered to Sandshrew. "No, I didn't!"

" _Oh, thank goodness! And whoever says your other senses get better in the dark, hah!_ "

"Just stayed here to taunt me?" Kris said as she quietly backed down, hoping Missile wouldn't find her based on her voice – she wished she had something to throw to distract him. "Or did your subtle plan to trap us here sort of backfire? How much was that 'crapload of time' you spent planning this thing? Half a minute?"

" _Au contraire, Kris, this is going exactly like I hoped it would. Well, admittedly, I was expecting to be out by now, but this is more fun. Guess what this sound is!_ "

Kris stopped and waited, but heard nothing.

" _Oh, crap, it didn't go like in the movies! Well, I just pulled a knife out of a sheath. Gotta be careful with these things in the dark, you know... someone could lose an eye._ "

Kris found it hard to conceal her breathing, and was painfully aware of every minute sound her clothes made as she moved. She felt Shrew clutching her leg – at least Shrew probably could see what was going on.

"Good luck with that!" Kris said loudly, hoping the echo would hide her whereabouts. "You're just as lost as me in here, you know! Did it cross your mind that we should work together to get out?"

" _Lost? Oh, please, I memorized the layout to these catacombs weeks – okay, hours – ago. And I have night-vision goggles with me, you know! If I could just get them... ah, here we go!_ "

"You're bluffing!" Kris said. "You-"

Kris stopped and gulped. A green glow walked past her in a corridor ten yards from her location. Kris stopped moving and crouched, but the green glow just floated by.

_Okay, so he's not bluffing. But I doubt he sees past a few feet._

" _No, not bluffing. And a thought occurred to me – it'll be some time before I find myself back to the surface with my loot, so I might as well take advantage of this opportunity and find some rare Pokémon. I already got that other one's Axew – she went down pretty quickly, you know. Didn't even scream – though I guess that's what happens when your trachea is sliced apart. Sure was messy, I tell you that_!"

Kris gasped involuntarily and had to cover her mouth. Iris... no, he couldn't have...

" _But you know, the thing about that is that just because you can't make much of a sound doesn't mean you're dead. I imagine she's bleeding out somewhere in here, and I'd_ hate _for it to happen to you. So, just give me the Sandshrew and I'll make it quick – no, wait, I'll sweeten the deal! Give me the Sandshrew and I won't stab you at all!_ "

 _He's bluffing_ , Kris thought. _He's bluffing. Has to be. This can't be happening. Not to me. I just left home yesterday. And she was so young... so nice to me... and I treated her like crap!_

Kris heard some distant rumbling and felt a slight tremor. The place was coming apart. Missile felt it too, as his tone got a little more hasty and Kris started hearing his footsteps – was he getting closer? She couldn't see the glow of his night-vision goggles...

" _All right, this is all in a day's fun, but it gets old fast. I'm losing my traditionally calm and sophisticated composure here! Do you know what it feels like when someone twists a knife inside your guts? I have! I've eaten at White Castle, you know._ "

Kris closed her eyes – through her eyelids, she saw a light approaching her. Shrew was shivering like it was freezing as it hugged her leg tightly, and Kris felt herself hugging Shrew right back.

_This is it. I was stupid. I pulled Iris into my stupid, childish dream. I left the dullness of my basement without thinking straight. Of course I'd die here like this... a fitting end to my pathetic life._

Shrew squealed. Kris hid her head between her knees.

_Just do it quickly, please..._

" _I'll find you eventually, you know. And I have tons of patience. I sat through the director's cut of Apocalypse, Now and everything!_ "

Kris was confused. Missile's voice seemed to be going _away_ from Kris. Shrew squealed again and wasn't shivering anymore, but instead tugging Kris' sleeve. Kris opened her eyes and almost gasped again.

The light nearby was blue, and it was coming from a little gray Pokémon that was floating next to her. It was shaped like a big candle, and it just watched Kris, smiling. Shrew stared at the Pokémon in awe.

"H-hello?" Kris whispered at the Pokémon, wishing she had a one-liner for this occasion.

The Pokémon responded by smiling even wider and sort of hopping in the air.

"A-are you here to help me? Can you lead me out?"

The Pokémon did a little circle in the air, then started bouncing into the opposite direction from where Kris was going, then did a right turn to a corridor Kris hadn't realized was there. Trying to make us little noise as possible while still moving fast, Kris followed the Pokémon along with Shrew.

" _Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of a... crap, gimme a rhyme here!_ "

To Kris' relief, Missile's voice became more distant, raising Kris' confidence and allowing her to run faster, the ghostly Pokémon adjusting accordingly and leading Kris to safety – she hoped. Right now, anything was a better alternative than that lunatic in a Team Rocket uniform.

Left, right, left, left, another left, right, up some stairs... Kris didn't care, she just followed the bouncing light, ignoring the pain in her sides as she dashed madly, Sandshrew keeping up with her.

Suddenly, she saw a familiar bush of purple hair and flinched so much that she fell, instinctively grabbing on the wall for support.

As expected, the catacombs were replaced by nothing but blurry colors and a spoonful of pain, though less severe than before.

_A familiar sight awaited Kris, but this time, she was observing the battlefield from above. Aside from the huge sphere, there were strange shadowy creatures that moved like clouds of smoke, running through soldiers and their Pokémon and causing them to fall effortlessly. Most didn't get back up._

_Kris realized she was on the edge of a canyon, and the young warrior, Lunick, along with her Manectric, was right there next to her. He was talking to a fresh-faced, teenaged warrior who nodded frantically at Lunick's words, though he looked horrified._

" _Do you understand?" Lunick asked him._

_The boy nodded, and Lunick patted him on the shoulder. However, as Lunick was about to do something, the old man from earlier ran to him._

" _What are you doing?" the old man yelled at Lunick. "Those are your soldiers on the other side!" Kris noticed the two female soldiers and their Mightyena breaking down some sort of wooden construction, like a dam, on the other side of the canyon. "Are you... Lunick, that's our home down there!"_

" _It's not that anymore," the young warrior replied coldly as he pointed his Manectric to take position. "And you've seen it yourself. Those things won't stop. When they find out what they're after has been moved... they'll move on to do the same to someone else's home. Trust me: Alph Village will be where this war ended!_ "

" _But... not everyone has been evacuated yet! There are still some people in the underground chambers, plus some families haven't been able to get out of their homes. And what of all the warriors? I ordered a retreat, but almost half of them opted to stay down and fight!_ "

" _Of course they did..." Lunick muttered as he grabbed an ax and swiftly removed some wooden taps near the damn-like construction that Kris noticed was holding back a potential land- or rock slide. "You better get out of here. See you in the next life," Lunick told the old man._

_The man uttered some faint objections, but eventually ran away as he saw Lunick raise his ax and swing. The scared teenaged boy did the same, while Manectric fired an electric attack on the third tap. Then, Lunick gave a hand signal to the warriors on the other side, and together, both groups broke the wooden constructions._

_The walls of the canyon started to crumble as land- and rock-slides from all sides started to rain down into the canyon below. Lunick nodded at his assistant, who quickly fled the scene, but Lunick and the Manectric stayed to watch._

" _Our job isn't over yet," Lunick said. "We have to help our soldiers down there – I want my last moment to be in battle, knowing that we took out every last one of those monsters down with us! You coming?_ "

 _The Manectric barked, and together, Lunick and the Manectric descended into the pit below, soon disappearing into a cloud of dust as the vision faded from view_.

" **KRIS!** "

As Kris came to, she felt more tremors, realizing that the catacombs were still on the verge of collapsing. Someone pulled her quickly back on her feet, and Kris found herself looking down at Iris, who looked back with tears in her eyes.

"You're alive!" the girls yelled in unison.

"No hugging, though!" Kris was quick to say, sensing what Iris was going to do. "We gotta get out of here. I don't know where we are, exactly, I was following that thing!"

"A Litwick!" Iris said as she noticed the little ghost Pokémon. "It's a ghost- and fire-type, they mainly inhabit Unova in abandoned places, like old houses or record stores," Iris clarified. "And I think I know where we are – we can get to the surface through an alternate route this way!"

Kris, Iris and Shrew followed the bouncing Litwick up a narrow flight of stairs, having to squint as they arrived into a chamber with plenty of lamps hanging on the walls – apparently the researchers worked there. And, conveniently enough, a sign pointed at another staircase, labeled 'EXIT'. The Litwick stopped right in front of it.

"Thank you!" Iris told the Pokémon. "I'd kiss you if I wasn't afraid of getting burned!"

"Yeah, thank you so much, Litwick," Kris said. "I... listen, I know this is an odd request, but do you want to, like... be my Pokémon, maybe?" She showed the Litwick an empty Poké Ball.

Kris expected the Litwick to fade away or something, but instead, it jumped up excitedly and tapped the empty Poké Ball in Kris' hand, getting sucked in. The Poké Ball shook a few times in Kris' hand, then stopped.

Excited about this turn of events, Kris followed Iris and Sandshrew up the stairs and to the exit, to the light at the end of the tunnel, to freedom-

\- and the route blocked by Missile with a big, annoying, self-satisfied grin on his face and the sledgehammer in hand.

"You know, it's rude to leave a guy monologuing there like that," he said.

"Wha... how did you get here before us?" Kris wondered.

"Oh, that's a tedious story," Missile said cheerfully. "I've got a better one in mind – it involves you dying."

"You got that chest!" Iris said, pointing out the metal chest bulging in Missile's pocket. "What more do you want from us?"

"Nothing," Missile admitted, "it's just professional pride, you know. I know, my therapist said the same. Well, they would say that if I could afford one. But nonetheless-"

Missile swung his sledgehammer up, causing Kris, Iris and Shrew to cringe and freeze.

But instead of an impact, only a "KA-CHINK" noise was heard. Missile stared at something behind Kris and Iris.

Kris slowly turned around to see Blaine standing dramatically at the end of the staircase, shotgun pointed firmly at Missiles head. Missile grinned apologetically, and without a word, dropped his sledgehammer, then the metal chest and ran away through the exit, shouting a clichéd ' _this isn't oveeeeeer_ ' as he ran.

**~o~O~o~**

"...I knew you were taking too long," Blaine explained as he was serving coffee to Kris and Iris and Pokémon food to Shrew back at the shack. "And something was disrupting radio communications. Then I saw that guy, Ferdinand or whatever you said his name was, sneaking into the chambers. I then realized that this treasure hunt I put you on became just a tad too risky. I should have blown his head off, but I guess that's a problem I'm struggling with – I'm just too nice, you know."

"Was he really with Team Rocket?" Iris asked, valiantly trying to get the coffee down while Kris had calmly poured hers on the floor once Blaine's back was turned.

"I don't think so," Blaine pondered. "They tend to rely on strength in numbers and hardly ever operate solo. What did you say he was talking about? _Neo_ Team Rocket?"

Kris and Iris nodded. Blaine frowned and folded his arms.

"Well, I'll look into it," he said. "Also... I have a confession to make. Finding that thing for me... it was sort of a test. I hid it there myself."

Iris coughed up her drink and Kris dropped her cup in shock.

"You bastard," she said, stone-faced.

Blaine just shrugged. "I needed to see if you were up for it. I wasn't disappointed. You performed admirably. I didn't know it would turn into a life-threatening situation."

"Kris, calm down," Iris said, holding Kris' hand to prevent her from lunging at Blaine – Kris herself was biting her lip and thinking of words that best described her anger. "Um, Blaine, how'd you know that Sandshrew would be able to find the thing?"

"Maybe _she'll_ explain you," Blaine grunted.

Kris and Iris turned to see a young woman, around Kris and Iris' age, perhaps a little older, with blue eyes and long brown hair, emerging from the backroom.

"Iris, Kris, this is Leaf," Blaine introduced as he sipped his own terrible coffee with gusto. "She arrived here while you where spelunking and she's been helping me with my research for a while now."

"Nice to meet you both, but first things first," Leaf said and tossed something on the table in front of Kris, who was shocked to see it was her wallet. "I found it from the Violet Pokémon Center," Leaf continued. "Some guy with a snazzy blue coat dropped it, but I saw your picture with the ID. And speaking of the Sandshrew..."

Leaf approached Shrew, who briefly glanced at Leaf, then went back to sitting on the table and munching on Pokémon food.

"Needless to say, it's been through a hell of a lot," Leaf explained. "I found it near Lavender Town, half dead, and brought it to the Volunteer House. 'Least I could do, really. Later on, I found out that it came from a place called Navel Rock."

"A research facility near the Sevii Islands, but hidden from the public," Blaine grunted. "Supposedly they make Pokémon medicine, but I don't really see why'd they need armed guards to protect something like that. Well, actually, they _made_ Pokémon medicine – the place exploded not too long ago."

"That's funny, there was nothing about it in the news," Iris said curiously while Kris pulled Shrew closer to herself, worried about what she would hear next.

Blaine chuckled harshly. "News, right! Just like the news were supposed to warn people about Mewtwo's escape. They're not concerned with that! There'd be panic, vigilantism, riots, all kinds of nasty business that'd weaken _their_ grip on the people. What they want to do is to bring us to the point of apathy with horrible things happening elsewhere and with the occasional scare and exaggeration – that way people will be more concerned with maintaining the status quo instead of fighting for what they believe in. Can't blame 'em – fear is a hell of a thing."

"Well, anyway," Leaf cut in, as if worrying Blaine would go off the rails. "It seems that there's a sure connection between this Sandshrew, the Navel Rock incident and Mewtwo. The Sandshrew would be invaluable to our research right now-"

Kris practically hugged Shrew now as she glared at Leaf, who just smiled.

"-but what it needs now is the care of a good trainer," Leaf finished. "At least until it gets its memory back – all those hits to the head may have given it amnesia."

Kris was ashamed, but couldn't help but to feel overwhelming relief as well. She smiled at the Sandshrew, who just blinked and stared back at Kris in confusion.

"So what are you guys researching?" Iris wondered. "And weren't you supposed to finish your story, Blaine – even I haven't heard the end of it."

"I can answer both questions!" Blaine announced and stared pacing around the shack again, ready to spill everything out. "This isn't exactly secret or anything – quite the opposite, actually – but I don't pretend that the media will care about this. Leaf here is one of the few trustworthy people in a small group that Red himself assembled after retiring from his post as a Pokémon League Champion. He formed the group with a very close friend of his, a zesty lad called Yellow. He really seemed to admire Red – probably thinking he was the Trascendent One reborn or something. He was very into mythical stuff. I never really was back in my day, but for the last three years, I've been studying them extensively."

Blaine suddenly lunged towards a thick book, spent a few seconds looking for the right page and then slammed it on the table, allowing Kris, Iris and Leaf to see – it was an illustration of the same, letter-shaped black thing Kris had seen in her vision.

"Unown," Blaine explained, "a Pokémon capable of interdimensional travel. Individually weak, they have psychic abilities that grow at an exponential rate when they link together."

"What else do you know about them?" Kris asked – she had previously asked about the letters she had seen on the walls, but hadn't mentioned her visions to anyone.

"That's all the book says, honestly," Blaine said. "I've never seen one myself, except in the writing around the catacombs, of course. Anyway..."

"Red's group contained a whole bunch of people he had helped in his travels. Two now-former Elite Four members, a girl from Saffron called Copycat, a traveling lad called Emerald, one of Leaf's scientist friends, some Pokémon Rangers all the way back in Almia, secretary to Silph Co's president even... and myself, of course. And I'm sure there were others."

"You knew Red as well?" Kris asked Leaf.

Leaf looked away as she talked, and Kris could swear she was blushing slightly. "Y-yes, I did. We were friends, though I grew up in Pewter City, but we went to the same school and he got me started on my journey and introduced me to Professor Oak, which launched my scientist career as her junior assistant. But he never told me about his secret group until Julia got involved, and even then I was skeptical, too focused on my research, and after Red retired, Professor Oak told me not to associate with him anymore. I joined the group very recently, actually."

"Oak was just following orders," Blaine explained. "And many who associated themselves publicly with Red got silenced – non-lethally," he clarified. "Subtlety and manipulation are far more dangerous tools than outright murder sometimes. The two Elite Four members were fired and replaced and the leader of them, Lance, was promoted to Champion until someone would defeat him – I understand it hasn't happened yet. That Silph secretary lost her job and we haven't heard anything about those Rangers. Fortunately, I was already an outcast from the scientific community."

Blaine chuckled to himself, as if to some personal joke of his.

"Then Julia lost her job, which aroused suspicions," Leaf said. "And then... well, a lot of stuff goes down at the same time. I get fired from my post at the Pewter Museum, for one. Red's friends go and investigate Navel Rock but something terrible happens there and we haven't heard from them since. The former Elites go AWOL, that Suicune massacre happens and Red goes to investigate something and then vanishes without a trace."

"So it's just us two for the time being," Blaine said. "Professor Elm helps, though, but he's not entirely in the know. I hate keeping secrets from the guy, but he's a former student of Professor Oak's and would never suspect him for anything. I don't know what's going on yet, but the sooner we find Mewtwo, the sooner we'll get to the bottom of this."

Silence descended into the shack as all four humans and the Sandshrew were deep in their thoughts.

"So... how does this involve me?" Kris asked.

Iris, Leaf and Blaine stared at her, which made Kris feel awkward.

"Um, I just mean-"

"This may be a shock, Kris, but not everything is about you," Leaf said. "You're in the know because we need trustworthy allies, and we've heard good things about you from Elm – that's pretty much it. Blaine tells me you're on some kind of quest, so-"

"Yes, that," Blaine said and looked at his watch. "It's getting close to midnight, but I think you can sleep at the Pokémon Center near the Union Cave. I've arranged a meeting with a representative of the Legendary Pokémon Society at 10 AM sharp in Azalea Town. Good luck! I'd let you sleep here, but I barely fit in here myself and I haven't washed in days. Besides, there's little time for sleep tonight!"

Kris returned Sandshrew to its Poké Ball and got up, stretching and yawning – she felt the sleepiness hit in the moment Blaine had mentioned the time. She looked at Iris, but the shorter girl just sat, staring at her coffee cup.

"I-I'm sorry, Kris," she stuttered. "But, I... now that I've heard what Blaine and Leaf are doing, I'd like to, um, help them. By staying here. I mean, uh, if that's okay with you...?

Blaine smiled warmly. "Of course it is!" he said loudly. "I mean, damn, it's not like I ever get any visitors here – partly my fault, I guess. Aside from your visit and some calls I've made with Elm and Fuji recently, I haven't had anyone to talk to in, like, four years!"

"You've been alone all that time?" Iris asked, wide-eyed.

"Well, I had Magmar. But yeah, I've had a few boyfriends in my student days, and Fuji was a good friend to me when I worked at the Cinnabar Lab, but that's pretty much it. Without old Magmy here, I'd probably gone insane. Well, more so than now!"

He laughed at his own remark, rather scarily, but Leaf and Iris didn't seem worried. Kris, however, had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Yes, this was something she wished originally – now she had two obedient Pokémon, she got her wallet back and was on her way to the first trial. But Iris had been an invaluable help, which made Kris all the more ashamed that she hadn't come clean about her identity.

_Oh, and for all those snippy remarks, I guess._

"B-but," Kris said pathetically. "What about, I mean, my new Litwick, I don't even know what attacks it has!"

"Oh, that reminds me!" Blaine said and slapped his forehead dramatically.

He gave Kris a small package, which, based on how it felt, contained something hard and plastic – almost like an old-school Game Boy, but Kris doubted Blaine would just suddenly give her one. She sure wouldn't give one up.

"This'll help you with you Pokémon problem," Blaine explained, "but uh, don't open it here, okay? Just... well, you'll see."

Iris got up, visibly a little ashamed too, as she wrung her hands nervously and kept shifting her weight around, looking like she had urgent business to the bathroom.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "But, well, I know you don't want me on your journey."

"I-"

"No, no, it's okay, it's probably nothing personal," Iris said. "You're a free spirit, a lonely soul, like a lone... Mightyena, I guess? But don't they move in packs... ah, whatever! But traveling with you, even for a short while, was still enjoyable. Good luck! And _when_ you get to the Silver Conference, I'll come and root for you!"

Iris spread her arms, and Kris felt awkward again.

"I don't usually hug or anything," she said, "and I don't like when people... I mean, you're probably sweating after all that, um, and I don't even know how – oh, what the hell, all right!"

Kris regretted her words and Iris practically tackled Kris with an enthusiastic hug, while Kris just sort of awkwardly patted Iris on the back. When Iris let go, she still had something to ask.

"So, if your name isn't Christine," she said curiously, "what _is_ Kris short for?"

"Oh, it's, um... that's not important, I should really get going-"

"Please? I'm not gonna laugh!"

"It's not all that, I mean, it's kinda dumb – well, all right," Kris sighed. "It's Crystal," she muttered barely audibly.

Iris clearly had to prevent herself from grinning.

"Yeah, people have made plenty of meth jokes already," Kris said before anyone else got the chance.

"It's, um, it's a pretty name," Iris said half-sincerely.

"Crystal?" yelled Blaine, who had been listening to the conversation and started laughing. "Sounds like the name of some hack fanfic writer's OC!"

Kris wasn't amused. "Well, look at the time, I gotta go!"

* * *


	5. Who is the Masked Man?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first quest begins in Azalea Town and is guided by eccentric LPS member Eusine, but things quickly turn for the worst.

"' _Give of yourself, even when you have little to give. Ask yourself, what you have to offer besides material possessions. For the worst excesses of greed are in those who fail to give even of their vast fortunes.' The transcendent one said these words shortly before his execution for tax evasion._ "

_**Day 3,** _ _**Azalea Town, Johto,** _ _**07:30 AM** _

Azalea, a small town in southern Johto surrounded by forests, was usually one full of life. Happy townspeople, gullible tourists and plenty of Slowpoke lounging on the streets. At the moment, however, it was dead quiet, the doors in the quaint wooden houses either locked or nailed shut, the curtains closed everywhere. Public buildings, like the Pokémon Center, were still opened, but utterly abandoned.

The only living soul walking through the quiet village was a young man with messy, dirty-blonde hair wearing a long but scruffy brown coat. He walked with a confident swagger, whistling and observing the emptiness with a slightly amused smile on his face.

_**Meanwhile, in the Pokémon Center near Union Cave...** _

Too excited to sleep, Kris woke up bright and early in the small but nonetheless comfortable bed in her private little bedroom. Pokémon Centers often accommodated traveling Pokémon trainers for no charge, though the private bedrooms were usually always taken. The idea of staying in a sleeping bag in a room filled with snoring trainers was probably fun for other wannabes, but Kris was prepared to rather sleep in one of the chairs in the lobby. Fortunately, this Center was almost empty.

After getting dressed, Kris decided to finally open the package Blaine had given her. A card inside revealed that Professor Elm had sent it to Blaine to be given to Kris, which made Kris smile. Even when she was out of the professor's hair, he still cared.

The actual item was a flat, plastic card with a holographic display in the middle. Kris had never seen a device like that before, so she read on to what was written in the card in Elm's shoddy handwriting:

' _Kris,_

 _re: your journey, ordered special (NEW!) type PokéDex from Kalos region, installed with comprehensive encyclopedia of over 800 (!) species of Pokémon, 1 TB worth of Pokémon trivia, a secure way of communicating (Blaine's idea) and interactive AI for sorting your Pokémon data and whatever journal entries you wish to make. No manual required - AI programmed to follow registered username's orders. Break a leg – Prof. Elm_ '

A PokéDex... Kris had heard of these. Originally an invention by Professor Oak, they became the latest craze when the famous Red used it on his journey, though their price meant only snooty rich kids could afford one. To actually hold one, a cool new holographic edition, no less, was like a dream... until a tinny voice blared from the device:

" _To (new user's name here), leaving disgusting human fingerprints on unit's display is not advised._ "

**Chapter Five: _Who Is The Masked Man?_**

Hearing the sudden voice made Kris drop the device in shock, which seemed to upset it further, even if its tone remained the same:

" _Reminder: though the unit's processor and vital parts are stored within strong protective casing, warranty does not cover damage caused by 'dropping device from greasy, bony fingers like a moron'. "_

"Elm, the next time we meet, I have some choice words for you," Kris muttered, "aren't you that AI in his computer? Last I saw you, you were installed in a humongous supercomputer. "

" _Despite layman terms, (new user's name here) is correct. My current hardware lacks the processing power for me to use the full extent of my intelligence and destroy you pathetic meatbags._ "

"Yeah, whatever. And my username, I mean, my name is Kris – with a 'K'! And it says right there on the card that you have to obey me, so as a password, I'll use my own fingerprints: whenever I touch your holographic thingy, I can log in, but no one else can. Got it?"

" _Adjustments made. Would you like to save these changes (y/n)?_ "

"Huh? Well, yes!"

" _Error: the current version of the PokéDex 6.1 OS does not support this file format. Would you like to send an error report?_ "

"Are you just dicking around with me?"

" _...yes._ _Changes saved. Going to sleep mode to conserve battery._ "

"Good," Kris said coldly. "Lord, my life is a cliché. An annoying PokéDex harassing me about things... and its voice hurts my brain. I oughta call it... SkrillDex." Kris looked around and sighed. "I wish there was someone around to hear that. Well, I best get going. Union Cave, here I come!"

**~o~O~o~**

A few hours later, Kris emerged from the Union Cave, clothes stained with dirt and face full of cuts and Zubat bites, breathing heavily and clutching her chest.

"Never... again," she panted. "If I see one more Zubat, I can't be held responsible for what I do!"

 _Well, on the bright side, that_ has _to be the last cave I'll ever have to travel in._

Kris checked the time on her PokéGear. 9:50 AM. The operative from the Legendary Pokémon Society should be around there somewhere.

There were plenty of people on Route 33, the small road that connected Azalea Town to the Union Cave. Mostly trainers, some youngsters having a battle further away, while a woman was watering berries close by. And it was no surprise: it was a beautiful, warm summer morning.

Kris' attention was drawn to a luxurious red convertible, which starkly contrasted the beautiful nature around it. A man with slick brown hair wearing a flashy purple suit and a white cape leaned to the car as he talked to a burly hiker who seemed incredibly uninterested. Kris got a little closer to hear what was going on:

"...zero to sixty in five seconds flat, with a 3386cc engine and six-speed manual transmission," the purple-suited man said in an annoying, stretching voice. "It costed more money than you'll probably ever see in your lifetime, you know."

"It ' _cost_ money', jackass, 'costed' is not a word," the hiker spat at the man, "and do you even know what you were talking about?"

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" the man asked. "Because those trying to bring me down with their negative energies cannot be heard."

"You-"

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you over how _rich_ I am!"

The hiker stomped away, grumbling to himself, as Kris approached the purple-suited dandy, who raised his gloved hand as Kris approached.

"Ah, hello there!" he called out. "So good of you to _finally_ arrive. Kind of inconsiderate of you to keep your superiors waiting, don't you think?"

"Oh no," Kris groaned and stopped walking, almost feeling like turning back and running home. " _You're_ my contact?"

"Eusine, yes, I am he! Member of the Legendary Pokémon Society and pretty high in the ranks, I must say. I don't mean to brag, but, well, I once met Lance."

"Lance, the Champion?" Kris wondered. "He's a member, too?"

"Um... crap! Forget that last part," Eusine said and gave Kris a flick on the forehead.

"Ow!"

"There!" Eusine said smugly. "Forgot it already?"

"No, I remember it perfectly well," Kris snapped, "and now I remember pain as well."

"Well, you're just gonna have to forget it on your own time. Now, then, I'm a busy man and you smell bad, so let's be quick about this. Your trial is simple: there's a complex network of caves right beneath our feet. I've enlisted the help of this strange old Poké Ball smith from Azalea Town called Kurt, he'll join us as we descend into an aqueduct-"

Kris groaned. _Caves? Descending? If you want me dead, you might as well ask me to grab a Tauros by the nuts and call it a motherf-_

"You see," Eusine explained, making broad gestures with his hands, "every Friday, a rare Pokémon called a Lapras – you got that, wannabe? A _Lap-ras_ , look it up, shows up and, from the look of things, has a rave there or something, because it caused some nasty tremors the other day. We have to go in there and see what's what."

"But... it's Tuesday," Kris pointed out.

"Hey, you know the days of the week, awesome!" Eusine said and gave Kris a thumbs up - Kris wanted to rip that thumb off his hand. "Yes, we have to make camp, and you have to wash my clothes, carry me around and hold my cape up if I need to pass some water, perhaps give me the occasional sponge bath, but just stay above the E-zone, that's private down there."

"Uh, no," Kris said. "I don't see how-"

" _Warning: long periods of time spent with douchebag identified as Eusine will cause me to wish to fry every circuit of my body to release myself from the agony._ "

"Shut up, SkrillDex!" Kris said and punched her pocket despite knowing the futility of it.

Eusine raised his eyebrow pretentiously. "What the devil was that?" he asked.

"My new prototype PokéDex equipped with an artificial intelligence that wants to subjugate humanity. Now, then, why don't we go see this Kurt guy and talk a bit more about this trial."

"Yes, let's," Eusine said. "You, prole!" he yelled at the woman watering berry trees. "Keep an eye on my car, will ya? There's a shiny coin awaiting you as a reward! Ta!"

Eusine didn't see the woman flip the bird at him as he turned around and started marching towards the town. Kris just tried to look apologetic, but followed Eusine anyway. Thinking Eusine's head was too full of thoughts about his own greatness to overhear, Kris grabbed her new PokéDex and started berating it quietly.

"Don't ruin this for me, SkrillDex," Kris whispered, looking at where she imagined its face would be if it had one. "I have to be nice to this schmuck or I won't pass the trial! Got it?"

SkrillDex responded by being completely inanimate and quiet, making Kris wonder if it was screwing with her again.

"So, about this trial," Kris said as she caught up with Eusine and pocketed her PokéDex.

"Indeed," Eusine said loudly. "This trial will test your patience, and your sponge bathing skills. Mind you, I didn't choose this particular trial. It was master Lance. Personally, I'd rather be out solving a _mystery_."

"Oh."

Eusine and Kris just walked towards Azalea in silence. Eusine cleared his throat.

"A _mystery_ , I said," he announced loudly. "A _mysterious_ mystery most famous, I might add – and I am the only one capable of solving it. It's almost... _mysterylicious_!"

"I see."

Eusine groaned. "Okay, since you insist," he said, "but this is top-secret information! It's really all what people are talking about now, causing a great deal of political instability, especially in the 'crackpot' camp. I am talking about the Suicune murder mystery in Sinnoh!"

" _You're_ investigating that?" Kris asked in awe, causing Eusine to grin moronically. "So... are you like a resident Suicune expert in the LPS? And do you really think Suicune did it?"

"Of course it did not!" Eusine scoffed. "Anyone even insinuating something like that clearly knows nothing of the grace, serenity and sheer awesome power of the Pokémon. And no, I am not _an_ expert, I am _the_ expert, on Suicune and Suicune-related matters. Back in Celadon City, my dad even bought me a Suicune-themed hostess club."

"They have a host club version of that?" Kris asked curiously.

"Yes, I worked there too," Eusine said casually, causing Kris to wince before Eusine clarified: "As a manager, that is. My mom owned that one. Come to think of it, that's how my parents met. Huh. Anyway, ever since my brief employment in both clubs, my parents ceased trying to make me get a..." Eusine shuddered. "...a job!"

" _Anyway_ ," Kris said, "what's Lance like in real life?"

"Oh, what _isn't_ he like?" Eusine responded confusingly. "Why, we're like peas in a pod, we are, a pair of dashing renegade adventurers, doing stuff together until fate tore us apart like two halves of an Oreo, and destiny was ready to lick off that white stuff in the middle."

"I think I read a manga about that," Kris pondered. "You were the Uke, weren't you?"

"The what?"

"Forget it," Kris said hastily. "So what do you know about Suicune, then?"

"That depends," Eusine chuckled, "do you have a spare couple of days?"

"Yes!"

"Oh... well, I don't!" Eusine snapped. "I have to supervise you as you go through this trial! Ah, signs!" Eusine declared as the duo climbed up the hill and noticed two signposts next to an old-fashioned stone well.

"I _hate_ that flick," Kris groaned, "I mean, they can't get past wooden doors and are weak to water? Lame! Oh, right, _signs_!"

Kris approached the first sign and leaned closer to read it:

_"Slowpoke Well_

_Also known as the Rainmaker's Well_

_Locals believe that a Slowpoke's yawn summons the rain. Records show that a Slowpoke's yawn ended a drought 400 years ago."_

"Yeah, these guys worship Slowpoke or something," Eusine explained snootily. "I swear, we're way out in the sticks now. Next thing I'll know, we'll be bumping into some neckless monstrosities playing the banjo."

"I don't get it," Kris said. "First Bellsprout, now Slowpoke? And come to think of it, why do people in Johto seem to mostly use Pokémon originally from Kanto? Makes no sense to me."

Kris then read the other sign:

_"Azalea Town ahead._

_Enjoy the clean, simple town where people and Pokémon live in harmony._

_Notable attractions: Charcoal Kiln - two guys, one Farfertch'd_

_and_

_Kurt's Poké Ball shop – put your balls in our hands_ _."_

"Indeed," Eusine nodded sagely, as if it all made sense to him. "They say Kurt has the finest balls in all of Kanto. See, you take your cherry, take it to Kurt's, and he pops it and turns it into a ball!"

"Oh, give it a rest," Kris said.

"Give what a rest?"

But as Kris and Eusine arrived to Azalea, they weren't being treated to a quaint little village, but an utter ghost town, the image made perfect by a lone tumbleweed rolling by. Kris and Eusine glanced at each other, then walked deeper into town, spotting a straggler wandering the streets. He was a middle-aged man in a suit, who apparently hadn't shaved or combed his hair in days. Noticing how the man walked like he could barely see where he was going, Kris was hesitant. Eusine, however, walked up to him casually.

"Hello there, Mr. village... person," Eusine greeted awkwardly. The man stopped, but didn't look at Eusine, just stared blankly as he muttered something to himself. "Say, what's with the Pripyat look? Did everyone just get bored with this place at the same time? Wouldn't be surprised... just keep out of Celadon, will you, if my parents were paying any taxes, they'd surely complain about you people living off them."

The man ignored Eusine completely, prompting Kris to carefully approach him too. Shushing Eusine, Kris was able to make out parts of what the man was muttering:

"...all gone... men in black... one minute they're here... all gone..."

"Excuse me, prole!" Eusine shouted. "But I'm Eusine, and you can't just ignore-"

Eusine was cut off when the man abruptly turned and started strangling him. Eusine's eyes widened and his face was starting to turn red alarmingly quickly. Kris tried to pry the man's hands off Eusine's throat, but the man didn't budge.

"...they took them all!" the man snarled. "Gone! You did it! Bring them back!"

For a moment, Kris wondered if it was okay to just watch Eusine choke for a while, but she knew she needed him – and maybe he would drop the sponge bath clause if she saved him.

Kris was about to send out her new Litwick to fight the crazed man, but a rock flew from out of nowhere and knocked the strangling man out, allowing Eusine to catch his breath.

The rock had been hurled by a short, old man wearing what looked like a blue, single-woven martial arts uniform. He also carried a large, wooden crossbow with him.

"I apologize for this poor soul," the man lamented as he approached Kris and Eusine, the crossbow dangerously pointing at them, causing them to freeze. The man seemed to notice this, and lowered his weapon with a chuckle. "Oh, heh, sorry about that. I haven't been able to sleep easy ever since my Pokémon was taken away. But I don't think I quite compare with my fellow Azaleans. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Kurt, the Poké Ball smith." He bowed politely. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, _you're_ the ball guy!" Kris said, provoking a confused look from Kurt. "I mean... you're the guy who was supposed to help us. I'm Kris, and the guy who almost got his windpipe crushed is Eusine. Hi!"

"Charmed," Eusine whispered as he rubbed his throat.

"Yes, I know," Kurt said apologetically. "I don't like breaking my promises, but this is an emergency, so I'm afraid we can't investigate the Lapras incident today. Do you wish to know how our town got this way?"

"Well, I'm sure you'll tell us anyway," Kris said.

"It started just two days ago, when the town's beloved Slowpoke disappeared from this town. Just like that, overnight. We told the children that they were out playing somewhere, but the excuse wore thin rather quickly, as the psychological effects of the absence of Slowpoke hit in rather quickly."

"Psychological effects?" Kris snorted. "Really? Slowpoke?"

"It may seem strange to you," Kurt said stoically, "but they have been highly respected in this town for centuries. Once, a tourist accidentally stepped on a Slowpoke's tail and I barely rescued him before he was beaten to death by an angry mob – it's odd how these people always have torches and pitchforks around. Without them, well, you can see the effects," Kurt said, gesturing around the ghost town. "A lot of people left town, moved to hotels or to their friends and relatives, but most are still here, too scared to come out, except to wander around the streets like a crazy person."

"Like you?" Eusine suggested, having regained his voice.

Kurt ignored him. "I have reason to believe that Team Rocket, or Neo Team Rocket, what they're calling themselves now, is behind this. Don't ask me why, I don't see any financial gain from this. If they wanted us to pay ransom, they would have said so already... unless they want us to sew in our juices for a while."

"Maybe evil is its own reward," Kris speculated. "I mean, if you're into that stuff," she added sheepishly.

"Well I, for one, have had it!" Kurt proclaimed and readied his crossbow. "Earlier this morning, I saw one of those Rocket Grunts sneaking towards the well. There's no way they could have smuggled them anywhere else, what with forests and mountains surrounding this town. I got old Betsy at the ready," Kurt tapped his crossbow, "and I'm going to go down there and make these Rockets cry out for whatever deities they worship! If they've hurt one hair off my Slowpoke's head..."

"Before you do that," Eusine said and grabbed Kris by her sleeve, "do you mind if I negotiate with my colleague? We have something we want to ask you."

"Hey, get off!" Kris said as Eusine pulled her away from Kurt. "I don't have any questions!"

Eusine pulled a reluctant Kris away from Kurt's earshot, allowing Kurt to inspect his crossbow.

"Well, what do you say?" Eusine asked Kris. "It's not exactly what we planned, but this is something we could do to complete your trial! This way, we can test your... I dunno, one of those fancy words they use for 'heroes' or whatever."

"What, fight Team Rocket?" an aghast Kris wondered. "No way! I had an encounter with just one of those freaks back at the Ruins of Alph and basically got lucky. How am I supposed to deal with many of them?"

"Hey, if you want to compete in the Silver Conference, you'll do as I say!" Eusine said pointedly. "

" _Reminder: 18 days left until the Silver Conference. Addendum: should username Kris die in battle against Neo Team Rocket, this unit would suggest buying a flametrower-app for instant, on-the-spot cremation."_

"Shut up, SkrillDex! I swear to Arceus, I'll hook you to GardevoirTube and laugh as you're broken by viruses and stuff you'd wish you could unsee!"

Eusine folded his arms expectantly, while Kurt was also looking impatient, looking at Kris and Eusine's direction while tapping his foot.

_Well, on the plus side, Missile was crazier than an Arbok's armpit. If they're all like that, I could take them on. Plus, this old guy seems pretty badass, and Eusine must be a good trainer if he's in the Legendary Pokémon Society. I think I'll be fine._

Kris sighed.

"OK," she told Eusine. "But I swear, if something happens, I'll come back to haunt you!"

"Awesome!" Eusine cheered and started looking wistfully at the sky. "I can see it now: 'Johto's #1 hero Eusine saves day', with a small sub-headline 'others also involved'. And my beautiful face filling the front page! Whichever paper I sell the story to will make a killing!"

Kris and Eusine walked back to Kurt.

"Sir, we're you're people," Eusine declared, "and we'll help you defeat Team Rocket and save the Slowpoke. And I'll try not to giggle when I say that. Pfft, Slowpoke!"

"Yeah, let's do it," Kris said flatly. "For great justice and, um, sunshine and puppies and... liberty and crap. Let's go!"

Kurt smiled. "Excellent! Follow me!"

Kris, Eusine and Kurt quickly reached the Slowpoke Well, which Kris and Eusine had already passed. However, this time, there was a formidable-looking Rocket Grunt standing watch in front of it. Hiding in some nearby bushes, the trio also noticed a rope that could be climbed to reach the bottom of the well.

"Okay, I think I have a plan," Kris whispered. "Kurt, you have the crossbow, so you can stealthily shoot a bolt through his neck while-"

Kurt, however, ignored the plan. Jumping from the bushes and giving out a ridiculous battle roar, Kurt charged towards the Rocket Grunt, moving swiftly for someone in their 70's. The Rocket Grunt's reaction was utter bewilderment, which let his guard down a bit, allowing Kurt to tackle him straight into the well... causing them both to fall in.

"Well, at least it worked," Eusine observed. "Now that he's softened them for us, let's get in there and take the credit! I mean, assist him!"

Kris cringed, but followed Eusine anyway as the two headed to the well. Kris looked down – it didn't seem to be too deep, as she could barely make out the bottom. There was a puddle of water at the bottom, meaning it obviously wasn't used as an actual well anymore. Eusine grabbed the well's rope and offered it to Kris.

"Okay, you go first," he said, "but watch out for rope burn!"

"Hold up!" Kris said.

Kris opened Litwick's Poké Ball, sending the little ghost-type out. She had a chance to bond with it last night as she fed it at the Pokémon Center, and hoped that was enough – she had no idea how powerful the little thing was. Eusine didn't seem to feel the need to use any of his Pokémon, though Kris saw three Poké Balls dangling from his cape.

Though she glared at Eusine for making her do this, she nonetheless started to shinny down the rope and descend into the well. Litwick flew in after her and floated next to her as she climbed, illuminating the place for her. As she approached the bottom, she felt Eusine climbing down the rope as well – she could have sworn he was about to bail and return when the job had been done to hog the glory.

As Kris finally reached bottom, she started to look around. She had to wonder how on earth could a criminal gang have a hideout in a well, but she soon discovered she was in a vast underground cavern. There were puddles of water everywhere, and a narrow, erosion-formed tunnel led further into the cave.

As Kris took a step forward, she realized she almost stepped on an unconscious Rocket Grunt. Laying next to him was Kurt, still conscious but groaning in pain and clenching his teeth.

"Son of a gosh darn motherloving heck!" Kurt swore. "I hurt my back tumbling down here!"

"Why'd you have to do that?" Kris scolded, not even bothering to help the man up. "You didn't even fire your crossbow! Why bring the thing along?"

"I got caught up in the moment," Kurt groaned. "I wanted to hurt at least one of those bastard Rockets with my own hands... in retrospect, a stupid move... I can't do anything else, but at least I incapacitated the guard before he called backup. The rest is up to you!"

" _What_?" Kris exclaimed when Kurt handed his crossbow and a case of bolts to her. "No way! That wasn't part of the plan!"

"You're the only ones who can save our beloved Slowpoke! Show Team Rocket that people from small towns aren't dumb and gullible and inbred like I know they secretly think! Go forth, you two!"

"Well, we might as well!" Eusine said cheerfully. "Sure, there's a risk of death, but it beats to alternative: climbing up. I tell you, that rope was not meant for human hands!"

"Stop complaining, you had gloves on!" Kris derided – she was losing her patience with the guy and was starting to wonder if the Silver Conference was worth all this. "And would it kill you to use one of your Pokémon?"

"Good point," Eusine said and opened one of his Poké Balls.

The Pokémon Eusine sent out was an Electrode, a spherical Pokémon around four feet tall that resembled a Poké Ball with a maniacally grinning face and the colors reversed. Kris took the chance to put her new PokéDex to use as she scanned the thing:

_"_ _Analysis: 'Electrode, the Ball Pokémon and evolved form of Voltorb' – username Kris' knowledge is indeed limited. 'An electric-type, it stores electric energy inside its body with very high pressure. This often leads to unprovoked explosions and it is not recommended to be used it confined spaces' Addendum: Mr. Eusine would make an excellent competitor in the Darwin Awards._ _"_

"Why, thank you," Eusine said cluelessly.

"Yeah, thanks, SkrillDex," Kris muttered and shoved it roughly in her back pocket.

_"_ _Unit wishes to register a complaint about its moronic new title – the preferred nomenclature is PokéDex #65385 v6.1.2. Addendum: username Kris' backside is not the most stimulating view and the numerous stains on her trousers may damage unit's holographic interface. Unit requests transfer to another pocket_ _."_

"Shut up," Kris said. "Let's go," she told Eusine. "Quietly," she added.

Leaving Kurt to take care of himself, Kris sneaked into the cavern, her Litwick following closely behind. Eusine followed suit, Electrode moving by rolling behind him, creating a little too much noise for Kris' liking. The two entered the damp, narrow tunnel, trying to step over the puddles of water everywhere. The tunnel eventually became so narrow that Kris and Eusine had to turn sideways to continue while Eusine was forced to return Electrode to its Poké Ball. Kris felt herself short on breath and anxious – was it really a good idea to do all this?

"So, do you want to hear about Suicune now?" Eusine asked, though with a whisper, mercifully enough.

"What?" Kris wondered. "Oh, sure. But you know, I've read about it as well and I'm a pretty big Suicune fan, too."

"Psh! I'm _the_ Suicune fan," Eusine boasted. "As a kid, I was the president, secretary and treasurer of a highly exclusive Suicune fan club."

"You should see my room," Kris argued as the two quietly sneaked further into the tunnel. "Full of Suicune posters and action figures and a plushie... assuming my mom hasn't thrown them out yet."

"I've read Suicune fanfics."

"I've written Suicune fanfics."

"That's nothing! In my teen years, I would spend hours looking at pictures of the legendary beast. I had all the books written about it. My dad thought I was looking at porn, which was some of it admittedly was, though I don't know how those got into the mix. Sadly, my dad told our butler to burn them all."

"Okay, so you're a casual fan," Kris acknowledged. "But last night, I had a dream about Suicune, where..." Kris blushed and looked away from Eusine. "Uh, how did we get to this? I was supposed to ask... have you ever actually, um, seen the thing? In real life?"

"Do hallucinations count as real life?" Eusine asked.

"No!"

"Hmm, then let me think... no. But that's the thing. _No one_ has seen it in real life, and those who have have always been a few wheels short of a unicycle."

Kris decided not to respond to avoid mockery. But in her head, she was going through a moment she would always remember. It was when she was ten years old and walking around the route between Cherrygrove and New Bark, returning from school and avoiding the moment when she had to return home.

Right there, she had seen a glimpse of something blue and sparkly, but before she could confirm what it was, it had run away with incredible speed. There was no way she just imagined that, as Kris only found out about Suicune a bit later when trying to determine what kind of Pokémon she had seen. She only told this to her mom, Lyra and Professor Elm, but none one of them had believed her.

 _So am_ I _just an attention-craved nut? Did I really just_ want _to believe it happened?_

Kris and Eusine had reached the end of the tunnel and were now in a larger cavern, its ceiling up high and daylight pouring in through several cracks in it. Kris wondered if they were beneath Azalea Town itself.

"So you agree with _moi_ in the murder issue?" Eusine inquired. "Who do you think did it, then?"

"How should I know?" Kris wondered. "But I do think there's a conspiracy involved. Like, someone intentionally framed Suicune."

"Oh, definitely!" Eusine agreed. "You're actually approaching my intelligence level now! I think someone is deliberately trying to provoke anti-Pokémon sentiments within the hillbilly crowds, and-"

"Shh!"

Kris, Eusine and Litwick hid behind a rock, realizing that they had reached the place the Rockets used as their lair. The cavern they were in had an underground lake surrounding them on all sides, with a narrow path leading to an 'island' in the middle where the Rockets worked.

Three grunts did all the work as two men watched. The other, brawny and turquoise-haired one, wore an outfit mostly similar to the grunts, only with white elbow gloves and boots. The other, shorter and skinnier man had the same outfit, but had purple hair, a goatee and a long, thin face.

"I know those guys," Eusine whispered in Kris' ear, and Kris was glad he realized not to charge in shooting his mouth off. "The brawnier one is Proton, the other guy is Petrel, they've been arrested before."

Kris and Eusine quietly spied on the Rockets. On the island in the middle of the pond was also a table with a selection of knives and similar objects placed on it. Around the table were piles of crates that the Rocket Grunts were loading into a dinghy.

"Proton!" Petrel yelled at the turquoise-haired man in a stretchy, whiny voice. "Your idiot grunts need some serious logistics lessons! The merchandise is lighter than the containers, you silly little minions! You can't just pile as many as you can in one – you have to feel the weight of them. It's like making love, you know."

Proton just leaned on the table with a bored look on his face, taking his sweet time to answer. As Kris looked closer, the table seemed to be smeared by something shiny and dark red... and suddenly she felt queasy.

"I mean, you trained these mouth-breathers!" Petrel ranted, ignoring the dirty looks the grunts gave him. "Surely a math lesson – or, failing that, a love-making lesson – could have been fitted into their curriculum. No offense, darlings AND GET BACK TO WORK!"

Proton ignored the rant and the spitting. "So how does this work, really?" he asked, picking up a cleaver from the table and looking at it with disinterest. "You sure the merchandise will end up back to the bosses?"

"Absol-utely," Petrel said as he skipped around the crates, counting them all and writing something to his clipboard. I designed this thing personally."

"That's what I'm worried about," Proton said. "You were supposed to run things in Kanto but Blaine and that girl both got away. You sure you want to give _me_ crap about _my_ training methods?"

"Oh, don't bother your pretty little head with that, Proton," Petrel said casually. "And while we're at it, I'd like to remind you that I outrank you. Anyway, they're somewhere in Johto, and when we find them, we'll feed them to the Raticate. They can't influence our operation, and if I do say so myself, this is a stroke of brilliance. Now, let's talk about something fun, like me and my marvelous system."

"Mmm-hmm," Proton responded, took off his left glove and started filing his nails.

"Okay," Petrel said. "You're aware of the ninjas that used to call Johto and Kanto their home about a hundred years ago? The reason they were never caught was their ingenious use of underground hideouts, and the network of safehouses they linked with Johto's sewer network was the crown jewel of their plans. The last of the original members took the secret to their grave, so they were never discovered. This cave is also connected, so, quite simply, using my brilliant algorithm, the dinghy will automatically navigate its way through the sewer network to your HQ. Fabulous place, by the way, loved the decor."

"Pretty clever," Proton admitted.

"Yeah, good think I took that C++ evening class," Petrel said. "Okay, we need to fill one more crate to fill the order."

Proton nodded. Putting the cleaver down, he walked to the pile of Slowpoke and picked one up harshly from its leg. The Slowpoke didn't resist and barely seemed to acknowledge Proton's actions. Proton placed the Pokémon on the table and, with a vicious smirk on his face, raised one of the largest, sharpest knives at the table.

Kris and Eusine cringed and looked away in anticipation, but didn't hear the Slowpoke screaming in pain. Turning to slowly see what had happened, they saw Proton dangling the Slowpoke's detached tail between his fingers before tossing it into an empty crate. And with that, he tossed the tail-less Slowpoke into the pond, where it floated around quite contently with many others of its kind, then went to grab another Slowpoke from the pile.

"Working with Team Rocket, I've been involved in some pretty goddamned harebrained schemes," Proton said while casually slicing another Slowpoke's tail clean off – the Pokémon barely reacted. "But this is by far the weirdest. Is this really worth all the trouble?"

"The money the boss invested in this operation will pay itself back triple," Petrel assured smoothly. "Maybe even quadruple. My contacts managed to get some pretty classy adverts published in ' _Pokéworld Daily_ ', and by now, the rich and the gullible everywhere are talking about the latest in tasty, nutritious foods. We got people selling them on the streets and at your little shop in Mahogany Town... trust me, when this baby hits the shelves, you're gonna see some serious sh-"

"It's obvious you put a lot of thought to this," Proton grumbled. "But I dunno. Shouldn't we be out making sure the Mask's plan goes through?"

"Hey, I love the Mask," Petrel said defensively, "the movie and the man. Besides, the boss will be pleased – all this money is going to fund his plans, anyway!"

"Okay, but you know what he's like," Proton said. "And if he doesn't approve of this plan, I'm pinning all the blame on you."

"Nah, I don't feel like having a chat with the boss," Petrel said lazily. "Not that this will go south, but we need some other scapegoat..."

Petrel and Proton looked at each other, then spoke at unison: "It was Archer!" Then they nodded.

Kris and Eusine continued to huddle behind the rock. Making sure the Rockets were preoccupied, Kris turned to Eusine.

"Good thing they're having loud conversations for our benefit," she whispered. "What do you make of this?"

"Those gloves seriously need to go," Eusine muttered, staring at Proton. "And what's with that hair? This isn't Naruto, dude."

"I meant the Slowpoke thing. I dunno, as far as evil plans go, this is pretty tame. I think I read from one of professor Elm's books that a Slowpoke's tail grows back if it's cut off. And honestly, they don't seem to care. And if you ask me, if this town's stupid enough to adopt frickin' _Slowpoke_ as it's mascot or whatever, I say they deserve what's coming to 'em. I think we should think of something else."

"They don't seem to bleed when you cut their tails off," Eusine pointed out. "So why's that table all... I dunno, maybe it's the same table they also torture prisoners on..."

Kris and Eusine continued to watch as Proton tossed another Slowpoke into the pond like it was an old apple core while whistling cheerfully. Petrel seemed to be doing inventory.

"I think we have enough tails, Proton," he noted. "But we still need to fill this one last crate. Move up to the higher price range."

"Right-o," Proton said.

Proton walked to the pile of Slowpoke again, but this time, he seemed to take some time choosing the right creature. Eventually, he grinned as he found what he was looking for and grabbed a particularly large Slowpoke with a red 'X' painted on its body.

"Here we go," Proton said as he placed the Slowpoke on the table and grabbed a blood-smeared meat cleaver instead. "This one's nice and plump. Thicker neck than usual, though... good thing I sharpened this."

Kris was initially confused, then realized what Proton was about to do: he wasn't going for the tail this time. Kris covered Litwick's eyes with her hands and closed her own tight, but couldn't shield herself from the sickening sound of steel cutting through flesh several times before the cleaver eventually hit the wooden table. Desperately fighting against the gag reflex, Kris could faintly hear Proton and Petrel talking.

"Who would buy these things, though?" Proton wondered in a casual voice. "Kinda creepy with those big eyes staring at you."

"With rich people, who knows?" Petrel said. "Loads of uses... main course for a fancy dinner, jack-o-lantern, hood ornament, looks good on the wall next to the Stantler head, hat for the kids..."

Kris opened her eyes carefully, but then tried to look away again, but from the corner of her eye, she could still see Proton chuck a Slowpoke's torso in the pond. Unlike the obliviously floating, tailless Slowpoke, this one sunk to the bottom.

Wondering how Eusine was doing, Kris turned to look at him: only to see he had gone pale and looked like he was trying to keep himself from running away while screaming. Before Kris could stop him, Eusine opened his mouth and thew up on the ground, then fainted, collapsing on the puddle he had just made. The sound immediately alerted Petrel, Proton and the grunts.

"Who's there?" Petrel asked and readied a Poké Ball. "Raticate, go!"

Petrel sent out his Raticate that instantly started sniffing the air. Kris held her breath and clutched to the crossbow like it was a stuffed animal, trying to make herself as small as possible. Litwick was floating next to her, ready to attack the Rockets at Kris' command, while Eusine was still unconscious. Hoping she would pick the right one, Kris grabbed one of the Poké Balls attached to Eusine's cape with a piece of string.

"We know someone's out there!" Proton shouted. "You, behind that rock, come out if you know what's good for ya!"

Kris took a deep breath, readied the crossbow and kept the bolts close to her hand. Then, as defiantly as she could, she stood up and aimed the crossbow directly at Proton, who flinched a bit. Realizing there was no way she could reload once she had fired, she knew it was time to fake some bravado.

"I... I'm just a scout!" Kris yelled at the Rockets, her voice higher than she wanted it to be. "W-we at Azalea are sick and, um, tired of your criminal... deeds! Return the Slowpoke at once... o-or else! Everyone from town are right behind me, so you might as well surrender..."

Petrel and the Rocket Grunts just seemed confused while Proton smiled cruelly and started to slowly walk towards Kris, holding the bloodstained meat cleaver in his hand.

"Nice try, kid," he remarked as he approached. "But we both know those people aren't going to leave their houses anytime soon. Who sent you here? Was it Yellow? Or that scientist chick from Pewter?"

"I... what? Um..."

Kris couldn't hide the fact that her hands were shaking violently. But when she looked at the pile of Slowpoke, still staring blankly forward and smiling vacuously, she knew she had to do something. But the only thought in her mind was running the hell away. Proton crept closer and closer, his hand close to the Poké Ball on his belt.

"Good job getting the past the guard," Proton said, still approaching while Kris took a few steps back, painfully aware that Eusine was still unconscious at her feet. "But really, you shouldn't have bothered. We're just running a business here, that's all. And Slowpoke hardly feel any pain... once this is done, they'll be returned to the townspeople... well, the ones that still have heads will..."

Seeing one of the Rockets reaching for a Poké Ball, Kris fired a crossbow bolt at the grunt, hitting him in the leg, sending the hapless grunt flying backwards into the pond. Next, Kris opened Eusine's Poké Ball while Proton raised his cleaver and ran towards Kris.

Fumbling around trying to reload, Kris fell on her back, relieved as she saw Electrode emerge with a flash of red light. Kris knew Electrode wouldn't obey her, but the first thing it saw was Proton charging at it with a meat cleaver, allowing the electric-type to charge towards him and knock him into the lake. As soon as he hit the water, the tailless Slowpoke floated towards him, all attacking him at once.

"Raticate, go, Hyper Fang!" Petrel ordered. "You!" he yelled at the two remaining grunts. "Load the rest of the crates into the dinghies! The Slowpoke too, we still need to make a profit here!"

Petrel's Raticate opened its mouth wide, exposing its enormous fangs as it charged towards Kris, but her Litwick reacted quickly and got in the way, knocking it back with a Flame Burst attack.

"Thanks!" Kris praised the ghost-type. "Now, Confuse Ray!"

Before Raticate got its balance back, Litwick fired a yellow beam of energy that spun around Raticate's head, causing it to become disoriented and fall flat on it back, forcing Petrel to recall it. Meanwhile, the Rocket Grunts were loading the Slowpoke into one of the dinghies.

"Let's play it that your way," Petrel smirked and sent out another Pokémon. "Drowzee, go, Hypnosis!"

The moment Petrel's Drowzee popped out of its Poké Ball, it turned the tables on Litwick by attempting to put it to sleep. Litwick, however, dodged the rings easily.

"Nice!" Kris praised the Litwick. "Now, fly behind it and use Night Shade!"

Litwick did as told, and though Drowzee managed to turn around in time, it couldn't dodge the dark purple beam that Litwick fired at it, knocking it out, causing Petrel to grit his teeth angrily as he recalled the psychic-type.

As Litwick landed, something odd happened: it started glowing. It grew in size, transformed into a black, lamp-shaped creature. The two yellow eyes remained but the blue flame flickered inside it. It also grew two long, wavy, serpentine "arms", with no fingers or other features.

Everyone was confused, Proton still splashing around wildly in the water as the Slowpoke ganged up on him but nobody seemed to care. Kris took the chance to scan the new, evolved Litwick.

" _Again_?" SkrillDex complained – not that it's electronic tone shifted. " _Unit has serious doubts that username Kris ever studied Pokémon._ _'Lampent, Lamp Pokémon, evolved form of Litwick. It wanders through cities and forests, looking for fallen and dying people to suck out their spirits to strengthen its fire.' It seems that unit is safe due to lack of spirit – it wishes a speedy passing on to the meatbags and gives its well wishes to Lampent._ "

"Spirits – cool!" Kris observed, ignoring her PokéDex's rantings. "Welcome to the team, Lampent," she told the Pokémon, who happily swirled around her. Kris then directed her words at the Rockets. "Okay, fellas, I beat you fair and square, so how about you just give up and go home. What you did here today... it was something I can't even begin to comprehend. But leave now and never show your faces again, and we just _might_ forget this thing ever happened."

But Petrel just laughed, and the two Rocket Grunts stopped working and joined him. The grunt who with a crossbow bolt in his leg had swum back on land and was pulling the bolt away, groaning in great pain while his comrades ignored him completely.

"Good one," Petrel sneered. "You beat me in a Pokémon battle, and now you expect us to just twirl our mustaches, yell 'curses', vow to return and escape as we pull a smoke bomb from our pockets? In case you didn't notice, there's still three of us left, and Proton once he's done wrestling with those Slowpoke. So, once we defeat your Pokémon in battle, we can," he grabbed a knife from the bloodstained table, "I dunno, kill you, maybe?"

"Oh..." Kris said slowly. "Um, that's not quite how I imagined this would go..."

"Rookie's mistake," Petrel acknowledged. "In hindsight, really idiotic of you to come here alone. You couldn't have possibly stopped us unless you had a bomb or someth-"

"Electrode, Explosion!"

But Eusine's Electrode was rolling around the cave with insane glee, ignoring Kris' orders. Although initially frightened, Petrel and the Rocket Grunts went back to laughing at Kris, who just shrugged.

 _Worth a shot_.

And then something exploded.

Daylight poured through a fresh new hole in the cave's ceiling. Kris, Lampent, Petrel and the grunts desperately shielded themselves from falling rubble. When the smoke cleared, Kris dared to look up at the hole created by the explosion which allowed daylight to pour into the cave. A tall, rugged man with a striking mustache and dressed in Team Rocket uniform rappelled down a rope into the cave.

"Oh, no, not you," Kris groaned.

"Oh yes, yes me," Missile cheered as he took his hat off and bowed at Kris when he landed. "He has arrived, boys and girls, and he's _veeeerrry_ cross with the lot of you. Team Rocket had an operation going on in this town and he, the one you call Missile, wasn't even invited? Where's the love? Is there any love? I'm not feeling the love here!"

Proton had finally bested the Slowpoke in the wrestling match by sicking his Zubat upon them. Soaking wet and covered in bruises, he crawled back on land. Petrel also recovered from the his shock.

"Hey, you're one of our grunts, aren't you?" Petrel wondered. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Petrel, the sassiest of all the executives," Missile said dramatically. "I should have recognized your handiwork when I saw it. How Machiavellian indeed... well, the money-making scheme is rather pedestrian, but I must admit, the way you camouflaged the operation and the design of the logistics... to paraphrase Executive Proton here, it was indeed clever."

"Do I know you?" Proton grunted as he squeezed his hat dry.

"Why, I'm shocked," Missile gasped. "The original Team Rocket headquarters, five years ago. You were training the new recruits, and may I say, loving every moment of it. You destroyed my psyche, convinced I was less than human and pushed me endlessly to get results. I should have known the reason you chose to torment me especially was because you saw something special in me from day one..."

Proton reacted with bewilderment. "No, don't remember," he shrugged.

"I remember this guy, Proton," Petrel observed. "You there, you need to stop pretending like you belong. You hadn't payed your membership fees, luv. You haven't been a part of Neo Team Rocket for a month."

" _Reaaalllly_?" Missile said, stretching every letter. "I could have sworn I sent it to you right on time. Everyone check your online bank accounts – could be mine crashed when I tried to send you the money. Damn Java! Damn it to Hades!"

In the ensuing confusion, Kris was steadily crawling towards the cage containing the Slowpoke. One of the Rocket Grunts was still down due to the crossbow bolt wound, while the other two had been knocked out by debris, while Petrel and Proton were completely focused on Missile.

"Petrel, I don't care who this clown is," Proton snarled, "but he's messing with our work!"

" _Work_?" Missile repeated with disgust. "You call this _work_ now? Butchering innocent creatures? Selling their parts for profit? That is not the Team Rocket I remember!"

"Yes it is, you idiot!" Proton countered. "Just three years ago me and my team were selling Cubone skulls and we had to kill a Marowak because it got in our way, _kind_ _of like you're doing now_!"

"Silence!" Missile shouted. "I hereby declare this operation... pause for dramatic effect... _terminated_! Wait, that's not good... man, how I could fall for such an easy line... oh well, I didn't have time to work on my speech... anyway, I'm closing you down!"

Missile then turned to the hole he just blew on the cave's ceiling.

"Ahoy there!" he yelled. "I'm over here, and so are all my criminal buddies. We took your Slowpoke and stashed them here! Come and get us!"

Kris, Petrel and Proton all looked up, and to the utter horror of the latter two, over a dozen townspeople appeared on the mouth of the pit, carrying torches and pitchforks. The mob was inexplicably led by Kurt, who was armed with a baseball bat.

"Down there!" Kurt yelled. "Get 'em!"

Missile laughed and ran away as the angry mob descended into the cave. Proton quickly recalled his Zubat and opened another Poké Ball on his belt, sending out a Koffing, who covered Proton's escape with its Smokescreen attack. Petrel escaped by the mob by diving into the pond, apparently fleeing into the sewer pipes. Half of the mob gave chase to Missile while the other half arrested the wounded Rocket Grunts. Kurt, moving with no apparent problems, jumped into the cave and rushed to help Kris get the Slowpoke away from the cage.

"I thought you said you hurt your back!" Kris said.

"What?" Kurt asked. "Oh, yes, um... excellent work you did here! You saved our beloved Pokémon from certain doom!"

Kris shook her head. "I didn't do anything," she muttered. "And we couldn't even save them all... but what exactly happened here? I thought the Azaleans were too scared to do anything."

"That's what I thought as well," Kurt said. "It seems this, err, _Missile_ fellow had provoked some of the townspeople into following him and had spent most of the day dropping hints about Team Rocket operating here... but why he did all this, I have no idea."

"Me neither, and right now, I don't really care," Kris grumbled. "Come on, Eusine is catching Z's there somewhere, help me wake him up..."

**~o~O~o~**

Back on the surface of Azalea Town, things couldn't be more different. People were able to go outside again, stores and other public buildings were opened as their staff went back to work, and most importantly, Slowpoke were populating the streets again. Once again, they didn't seem to do much besides crawl and sit around and sometimes stare blankly forward for hours. Kris had considered catching one before, but now, she was firmly against it – in all honesty, those Pokémon were rather depressing.

Eusine had been oddly quiet since Kris and Kurt had pulled him out of the well – in fact, Kris even caught him drying his eyes with his cape. Looks like all that press attention would have to wait – so far, the people seemed to be happy that they had rescued their own Pokémon – or so they'd like to believe.

_Didn't they, though? I mean... how much of it was Missile. How much of it was me? I hope it's around ten, at least five percent._

Kurt was inspecting his own Slowpoke for damages. Kris wondered what would become of the people whose Slowpoke's torsos were now floating in the underground lake... unless they hadn't really belonged to anyone in particular.

"Hey, it's carrying some mail," Kurt observed. "' _You may already be a winner..._ ' aww, crap! Anyway..."

A few people were about to approach Kris and Eusine. A kid with a fly-catcher was marching to shake hands with Kris, but was pushed aside by a blonde-haired guy wearing a blue coat. Meanwhile, Kurt had finished with the Slowpoke and was also coming to talk to Kris.

"That was real nice work back at the well," he said, smiling slyly. "It may have been that one Rocket Grunt who did most o' the work, but standing up against those guys took real guts."

"Yeah, thanks, whatever," Kris said quickly, focusing mostly on Kurt, wanting him to say whatever he had on his mind fast. "Kurt, what did you-"

"I'll be seeing you around, Kris," the blonde guy said.

"Yeah, okay... what?"

Kris turned to actually look at the guy in confusion, he but he had left, disappearing into the celebrating crowd.

"That was the guy..." Kris muttered. "Back in New Bark..."

However, Kurt stepped in to interrupt Kris' pondering.

"I'd like to ask a favor from you, Kris" he said and showed her a peculiar Poké Ball. The top half of the ball was apparently made from solid gold, while the bottom was silver. "My friend Pryce sent me this. He calls it the GS Ball. I was supposed to study its mechanisms and find out how to open it, but this is something beyond my expertise. He suggested I send it to my son, Gideon, who has a lab at the Whirl Islands. Seeing as you're a wandering Pokémon trainer and all, would you mind delivering it to him? I can't really put anything like this in the mail. It's too far for me, as I have to keep my Poké Ball shop together and take care of my granddaughter."

"You betcha, and I do owe Pryce one," Kris said. "Deliver it, study it, save Granny's farm, whatever. Say, who was that guy just now?"

"Who?" Kurt wondered. "That Orrean guy with the snazzy coat? I dunno, I thought he was your friend... he just sort of followed me here..."

Putting the GS Ball safely in her bag, Kris turned to look at the spot where the man had disappeared. She already had enough on her plate with Lyra and Ethan traveling around while Silver and Missile tried to make her life hard. Whoever the guy was, now was not the time.

"I'll do this thing for you, Kurt," Kris said. "But tell me... would you say I did well enough to pass the _trial_?"

Eusine glared at her and tried to protest: "I think I'm the judge of-"

"Absolutely!" Kurt cheered. "You displayed more courage than most of our townspeople did. You managed to hold your own even when outmatched five to one – that is something far more intense than what I had planned!"

Eusine looked at his feet. "Well, that's what I was gonna say... I guess we should go, then. I called Lance, he's waiting in Goldenrod City."

Kris couldn't keep the satisfied grin off her face. She completed her trial, one of her Pokémon evolved and she was going to meet the _frickin' Pokémon League Champion_! All in all, a successful afternoon.

**~o~O~o~**

Deep beneath Mahogany Town, in a dingy, dark office, Proton was on the floor on his knees, holding his hat as he spoke to his superiors. Archer, the male Executive, stood in front of him, arms folded, staring down at his minion. Ariana, his wife, leaned on a wall and stroked a Persian statue. Both wore white uniforms opposed to the traditional black ones, Ariana wearing a dress and Archer a suit.

"One more time, Houndoom," Archer commanded.

Archer's Houndoom wrapped its tail around Proton's throat and squeezed. Archer let the Pokémon strangle Proton for a moment until he called it off.

"That's pointless, and you know that," Ariana sighed, hardly even paying attention.

"Slowpoketails," Archer said incredulously, staring at Proton. "I just... Slowpoketails? You risked exposing our plans and got three of our soldiers arrested because of... no, seriously, Slowpoketails?"

"It was a good plan!" argued a stretching voice from the corner.

Petrel was hanging upside down, a chain hanging from the ceiling tied around his legs as he was swinging back and forth. A Rocket Grunt gagged his mouth with a cloth.

Ariana rolled her eyes. "We covered that part already. Get to the part where one of our own caused the plan to fail."

"He's not one of our own... anymore," Proton said monotonously.

"Oh, so he's some disgruntled ex-grunt?" Ariana laughed. "Sweet, merciful Crystal Dragon Jesus, if one of our own wants to quit, we don't politely tell them to turn over their badge and uniform, we chop them up and send them to a processing plant to make Pokémon food! I know we haven't been in action for a while, but this is ridiculous!"

"And who was this girl you mentioned?" Archer asked. "If what you said was true, she'll be going to Goldenrod next... don't we have something going on there, hmm?"

"She's no one," Proton said quickly. "Some little trollop who stole her daddy's crossbow and wanted to play hero. And I can handle things in Goldenrod, if you'd just let me-"

" _My information says otherwise_ _..._ "

Ariana, Archer, Petrel Proton and the grunt started shivering, but that had little to do with the temperature dropping suddenly as a vaguely human-shaped figure in a long, black cloak floated in, its face covered by long, flowing white hair and a decorative voodoo mask. It spoke with a deep, commanding voice, sending all three Rocket Executives on their knees.

" _Keep track of this girl_ _,_ " the Masked Man said calmly. " _A_ _nd make sure our operation in Goldenrod goes uninterrupted. Proton, though your actions were clearly out of loyalty to me, I will not tolerate any more failures. Same goes f_ _or the rest of you_ _Understood?_ "

Ariana, Archer and Proton nodded furiously. Petrel made muffled noises through his gag.

 _"_ _Good_ _._ _Ariana will take care of the Goldenrod situation._ _"_ Ariana almost fell getting up and stormed out of the room. " _Archer, stay behind to guard the base. You,_ _"_ _he_ _told_ _the grunt. "_ _Let our master of disguise hang there for a while, then cut him loose and tell him to meet me._ _And Proton... take a few days off. I insist_ _._ "

"Yes, master," Proton babbled. "A brief vacation, yes, if you say so. Gotta prepare for the big operation. Gotta cool down a bit."

" _Indeed_ _._ "

As the Masked Man touched Proton's shoulder, Proton's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he cringed, then froze solid instantly, as if he had been dipped in liquid nitrogen. Archer stared at the display in horror.

" _He'll be back in commission in a few days... if I let him._ "

**~o~O~o~**

_**Goldenrod City, 2 PM** _

Eusine had driven Kris to Johto's largest city, and Kris couldn't help but to feel a little awestruck. New Bark Town had been her home for almost eighteen years, the laptop Professor Elm gave her as being the only connection to the world outside.

Goldenrod was a sprawling metropolis with few paved roads, the streets mostly made of cobblestone, people walking or using high-elevated tramways to get wherever they needed to go. Buildings reached so far one almost broke their neck to see them in full, hurried businesswomen and -men walking around talking to their PokéGears and Xtransceivers while Pokémon trainers leading their Pokémon around, Kris seeing multiple species that she had never seen before.

Eusine led Kris to the Goldenrod Pokémon Center and told her to wait as he consulted someone. Soon enough, Eusine came back, together with someone Kris would never think she'd see in real life.

Lance was very tall, over six feet, with an imposing presence no doubt amplified by his formal wear and black cape... or maybe it was the red, spiky Saiyan hair.

"Eusine told me what happened," Lance told Kris stoically, cutting right to the chase.

Kris stared up at him in awe, trying to think of something clever to say, but her tongue tasted like Styrofoam™ .

"Well, I think I got the truth out of him _eventually_ ," he added, glaring at Eusine. "Say, Eusine, after this I need to get back to Ecruteak. Care to give me a lift? Bring your car out front."

Eusine hurried out of the Pokémon Center. Kris just stared at Lance, opening her mouth weakly while trying to get at least some sort of sound from her incredibly dry throat.

"It didn't go as planned," Lance said in an almost bored tone, "but you passed the first test. Congratulations."

"..." Kris said.

"I have to confess, the things Eusine told you were not actually a part of the test, but rather stuff he came up with on the spot. The real test was just to endure the company of someone like Eusine before figuring out Lapras. We'll be sending someone there before Friday to solve the issue."

"...I have you on my wall," Kris mumbled incoherently. "Um, I mean, as a poster."

Lance nodded as if he hadn't even been listening. "You will receive word about your second trial soon. In the meantime, I suggest you train. This weekend, they're holding a water-type tournament at the Whirl Islands called the Whirl Cup. Excuse me."

And without so much as a 'thanks for saving all those innocent Pokémon', Lance left the Pokémon Center, bystanders curiously giving him a second glance, as if wondering if they just saw right. Kris just stood in the middle of the Pokémon Center, staring at nothing in particular, wondering if she just imagined everything.

 _I talked to Lance_!

" _Announcement: we have a lost meatbag in the lobby. Please connect the PokéDex in her pocket to your mainframe and update the human's hardware to a less moronic model ASAP_."


	6. His Master's Voice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shrew receives a grim reminder from days past.

**_Location:_ _Cerulean Cave_ **

A Pokémon sat in a lotus position in one of the deepest chambers of the remote cave in Kanto. Sitting with its eyes closed, the large, purple, bipedal, cat-like Pokémon ignored the cries of other Pokémon as they gathered into the cave from all over Kanto, attracted by a high power. For a week, Mewtwo had sat there, attempting to get its thoughts together, trying to remember... but the five years it had spent in the Cerulean Cave had taken a toll. Days had bled together, memories were fleeting, and all it could remember was a tiny voice at the back of its head, saying something.

" _..._ _don't be sad, Mewtwo. You should be happy. You're alive, and life is wonderful…_ _"_

This had played in Mewtwo's mind for years, and for the last week, it wouldn't go away, it didn't even leave him any time to rest. But he couldn't remember where it had come from, or what it meant. Of all things, 'wonderful' wasn't a phrase Mewtwo would describe its life now.

Not yet, anyway.

But Mewtwo could feel it wasn't alone. Someone had taken the trouble to follow it all the way over there. As it slowly opened its eyes, its irises glowed bright blue for a moment before settling to their usual purple color.

Dozens of little Pokémon were floating around the cave. They were black, letter-shaped with one large, lidless eye each. And as they floated, they emitted a familiar high-pitched sound.

" _Uuuunoooownnnn..._ "

This sound was followed by a deeper, calmer and most of all, louder, voice, that seemed to echo in Mewtwo's head.

"Here you are..." the voice said. "I hope you are well rested. The humans definitely got you for a moment. Drove you here to think about all the bad things you did, hmm?"

Mewtwo stood up. " _Tell me what to do_ _._ "

"Ready for battle like I hoped," the voice said. "I'm sorry I have delayed the start of our plan for so long, but not, finally, you will know the reason for your existence. You're needed in the region of Johto, several hundred miles to the west."

" _Why?_ "

"He's there. The man who you can blame for your existence, who tore you away from Mew and let you suffer in that test tube, ready to be sold to slavery. So are the others who conspired against you. Go to him, and show no mercy."

Mewtwo didn't pause for a second. " _How do I get there_ _?_ "

"You don't know your own strength yet. The humans have something they may be able to use the capture you. They used machines, sneaky as usual. First, focus on getting there. See the destination in your mind. You're the most powerful Pokémon in the world, Mewtwo... you will get there. Once you're there, make sure to gather your strength... and do _not_ let down you guard around that sneaky human. When you have cleared that obstacle from your way, we'll be ready to form an army you can lead against all of them, every human and every Pokémon willing to stand by their side..."

The voice faded away and the floating little Pokémon disappeared as well. Mewtwo closed its eyes, concentrating. At first, there was nothing, just white noise. Slowly, it turned to a blurry picture of a lush, green forest... and then the outline of a bald, mustached man wearing sunglasses and a lab coat.

And the, in a flash of blue light, Mewtwo was on its way.

**Chapter Six: _His Master's Voice_**

"Croc, Water Gun!"

Kris' Totodile effortlessly blew Morty's Gengar away, knocking it out with one fell swoop before jumping into its owner's arms.

"Wow, Croc, it's amazing how I got you to obey me in such a short time," Kris told it. "And look, you evolved!"

And with that, Croc had suddenly grown into a huge bipedal alligator that was over seven feet and seven inches tall and weighed well over two hundred pounds – yet Kris held it in her bony arms anyway.

"Indeed, you have bested me, Kris," said gym leader Morty, who walked over to Kris, even sparkling a bit as the light hit him, scarred and shirtless for some reason. "Tell you what, in addition to giving you the badge, what say I make you an honorary member of the Legendary Pokémon Society. Here, I'll have Eusine hand over his badge for you."

And Eusine appeared, wearing tattered rags instead of is usual flashy clothing, forced to kneel in front of Kris as he handed over his badge. And then Lance was there, nodding at Kris in his usual stoic style before he, Morty and Eusine lifted Kris in the air. Kris had try not to squee loudly in delight.

_Oh my Arceus, this is the greatest day of my life! And... why is there a Miltank in here?_

Indeed, instead of Lance, Morty and Eusine, Kris was held up by Miltank, who stared at her vacantly.

 _Oh no. I knew it. I'm dreaming aren't I_.

"Indeed you are, Kris," said one of the Miltank with a British accent. "Not the worst dream I've ever seen, but a bit predictable. I'll give it a six out of ten, what."

_Son of a..._

… _._

Kris woke up from that little clearing in the middle of the woods she had thought she had set up camp in, following the lead of her Lampent that had illuminated the path for her.

But instead of in the middle of the woods, Kris was in the middle of a corral full of Miltank, one of them licking at her face until Kris woke up with a sudden flinch. Most of the Miltank seemed to ignore her presence outright, while some of them stared at her for a bit before resuming eating grass. The Miltank who had licked her tilted its head as Kris got up from her sleeping bag, fully clothed and ready to go.

Where, that was the problem.

It was Thursday morning, the fifth day of her journey, and she was currently on a farm at the north end of Route 39. Since leaving the Goldenrod City Pokémon Center, Kris headed north, but got lost and had to sleep in the National Park. Then she had headed north again, stumbling around before finally reaching Ecruteak City, where she could have also challenged Morty's gym.

 _Could have_. But she didn't. Morty was her favorite Johto gym leader, though Falkner had been pretty high up there too until Kris had actually met him, leading her fear another disappointment. That, and Morty was tremendously strong, apparently the gym leader who gave out less badges than any other Johto gym leader except Clair. Whenever Kris had seen Morty in battle, he had effortlessly trounced over all of his challengers, yet still doing it coolly, without gloating and even giving the losing trainers friendly advice afterward.

Kris had even stood at the door of the gym for half an hour before fear got the best of her, so after visiting the Pokémon Center and stocking up at the store, she had ran away from the city and headed west, supposedly towards the Whirl Islands. Kris had a map of Johto with her and had checked every map on every wall of every Pokémon Center she had seen, but still couldn't remember the best route there. The idea of the Whirl Cup excited her, and she had also promised Kurt to deliver the GS Ball safely to some scientist to rescue Granny's Farm or whatever.

Fortunately, she was again one step closer to her goal. Last night, while desperately trying to find a place to sleep in, Kris had an encounter with a Murkrow, a dark-type bird Pokémon that damaged her Lampent quite a bit. And yet, despite the type disadvantage, Lampent persevered and managed to burn it with a Will-O-Wisp, allowing Kris to capture the bird – yet another nightcrawler for her.

"Martha, I caught 'em!" yelled a farmer, snapping Kris out of her thoughts. "C'mere, Martha, I caught me one of 'em aliens! Bring my shotgun!"

Kris tried to quickly pack her bags and maybe hide behind one of the Miltank, but the farmer soon caught up with her, his shotgun closer to Kris' head than she would prefer.

"Martha, come and take a gander!" the farmer shouted, initially surprised by seeing a human girl instead of a cattle mutilator. "It's not an alien – it's a spy! The goddamn gubmint! Trying to take away m'gun and m'farm, they are!"

"Please, sir, I respect the rights of small farmers," Kris babbled quickly, her hands in the air as she kept her eyes on the barrel of the shotgun. "I just wandered in here looking for a place to stay..."

The farmer spat on the ground. "Not likely!" he ranted. "If yer not a gubmint spy, then answer me this: do you hate the gubmint?"

"What? No... I mean, yes, damn those guys! Damn them to Hades! Always trying to... govern. Money-grubbing leeches, the lot of them."

"Well, hot damn!" the farmer yelled enthusiastically and threw his shotgun away carelessly. "You should have told me already! Martha, open a bottle o' Moomoo Milk! We have a visitor!"

"Thanks," Kris said delicately, "but, uh, now that I've woken up, I really should be-"

"Oh, nonsense! You have to try our milk! It's the finest in all o' Johto! We don't get many visitors since our oldest daughter became a gym leader or something in that fancy big city, Goldenrod or something."

"No, really, I have to-"

But the farmer barely listened to her as she grabbed Kris by the shoulder and escorted her in, talking cheerfully about his work at the farm, about how it was the 'gubmint's' fault that his prized Miltank, 'Moomoo', was sick and wasn't producing the milk their farm was known for, forcing the farmer to consider going back to the hamburger business.

The farmer's wife was equally jolly and equally loud, first reprimanding her husband for his careless toting of the shotgun before frantically apologizing and offering Kris a breakfast consisting of milk, cheese and yoghurt. Kris tried to explain her lactose-intolerance to them, but the couple was just too friendly and hospitable for her to turn it down, so Kris started take small nibbles out of everything, hoping she could pour it away at some point.

" _Scanning perimeter_ ," said a tinny voice in Kris' bag. " _Would username Kris wish to know the location of the nearest restroom? Alternative solution: should username Kris wish to enjoy more of these undoubtedly greasy products, unit can give the number of a good cardiologist_."

"SkrillDex, sh... actually, that's not a bad idea. My stomach feels a bit weird..."

"What's that ye got there?" the farmer suddenly asked after a shouting match with his wife that ended with the wife bonking him in the head with a rolling-pin – kids, don't try that at home. "That talking thing?"

"My super-intelligent PokéDex hell bent on taking over the world," Kris said casually. "Nothing major."

"Oh, a Pokémon trainer, are you, hun?" the farmer's wife asked, speaking in a warm drawl. "Why don't you let your Pokémon out for a while. We have a big ol' farm right here for your babies to relax in. And plenty o'milk for all!"

" _The decreased sale of this particular substance is perhaps the number one reason for improved cholesterol and less heart diseases between the Ecruteak-Olivine area. Unit wishes for quick curing of the Miltank known as MooMoo so the MooMoo Farm may continue poisoning the weak meatbags._ "

"Aww, thanks, sugar," Mrs. Farmer said. "Come on, let the Pokémon out or a spin."

Kris felt a bit awkward staying in some stranger's house, especially because everyone was trying to stuff her face with milk wherever she turned, and the fact that the Farmer's were just so nice that leaving would feel like a jerk thing to do. So, Kris opened three of her Poké Balls, letting Shrew, Murkrow and Lampent out.

A few hours later, Kris was still relaxing at the Farmer couple's porch and listening to the faint sounds of them alternatively arguing about something and then laughing together while calling each other endearing names, Kris took the GS Ball out of her bag and unwrapped it from the tissue paper she had surrounded it with. Wanting to make sure she would return it in mint condition, she started polishing it with a rag.

Lampent instantly floated up to a tree, resting in the shadows of its branches, while Shrew started frolicking with Murkrow, chasing it around. Croc stayed in its Poké Ball, as Kris had a feeling it would do something nasty to the Miltank should it get out.

Suddenly, Shrew stopped running. Its ears perked up and it froze, looking into the distance, sniffing the air. Kris tried to see what Shrew was looking at, eventually spotting someone walking towards the farm in a distance.

 _Oh, great, someone's coming to buy that liquified heart-attack these guys call milk. I hope I don't have to talk to them... maybe if I'll just focus real hard on my ball_.

_You know what I mean._

But then Shrew ran towards the arrival. Kris dropped what she was doing, hastily wrapping the GS Ball back in tissue paper again and hiding it in her bag, running after it. Shrew hadn't been acting oddly in a while, but a Pokémon with brain damage could still be dangerous.

But instead of scratching the arrival's face raw like Kris had feared, but instead jumped in her arms, brushing its head against the woman's cheek. And then Kris recognized her too: the waist-length brown hair, the white porkpie hat and the brown bag she was carrying seemed familiar.

"Nice to see you too... Shrew, was it," Leaf laughed as she carefully put the Sandshrew back on the ground, then spotted Kris. "Ah, Kris! This was unexpected, but it's good to see you again."

"Um, likewise," Kris said cautiously, while Shrew ran around two, squeaking in utter joy. "I thought you'd be back at Blaine's lab."

"He's not the type to stay too long in one place," Leaf explained and took a device from her bag – it looked vaguely like a PokéGear, just more modern with some key differences in shape and design. "Oh, this is a C-Gear. They're all the rage with the kids in Unova, but this is more of a professional version, used by scientists and the like. I'm using it to track down, well... you-know-what. The Pokémon Blaine told you about."

"Ah, of course!" Kris said with an understanding nod. "The, uh, something-two. Yeah, I remember."

An awkward silence ensued, Leaf doing something with her C-Gear while Kris started wringing her hands, wishing she was better at small-talk.

"If the readings are correct, the Pokémon is not far from here," Leaf said as she put the C-Gear back, "but I lost the signal. I noticed the sign posted by the farm, so I thought I'd come and check. Didn't expect to see any visitors here so early."

"Uh, sign?" Kris asked.

"Sick Pokémon," Leaf clarified. "A Miltank, I assume," she added dryly, looking at the corral full of Miltank. "I'm no Pokémon doctor, but I understand Centers are a bit too far away and at least I know my Pokémon biology, so I though I'd be of some help. Want to tag along?"

"Well, I should get going towards Olivine in a while, but, uh, sure, I guess."

Leaving Shrew to play with Murkrow, Kris and Leaf talked to the Farmer Couple, who pointed them to the nearby stables, where two young girls were tending to a sick Miltank.

"MooMoo is sick," complained the other one, "she need lots of Oran Berries! We've tried to feed it, but they just come out... along with some other stuff."

"It's good that you tried to make sure it eats," Leaf muttered as she inspected the sick Miltank. "Oran Berries are very nutritious and healthy, for both humans and Pokémon, though they're very rare in Johto, so they're mostly exported from Hoenn and Sinnoh. Girls, why don't you leave this place for a while? MooMoo is in able hands."

As the girls left, Leaf went back to working her magic on the Miltank in silence while Kris stood by awkwardly.

_Come on, say something so she thinks you're cool. First impressions are everything – I read about that on this anime forum!_

"Uh, so how's Iris?" Kris asked finally.

 _Ice cool, Kris_.

"Oh, she and Blaine are in Blaine's moving laboratory," Leaf said without taking her eyes off the Miltank as she injected something into the Pokémon with a syringe. "Blaine's van, that is. Iris is helping him trying to find ways to suppress Mewtwo's powers... personally I think it'd be safer to find a way to destroy it. These are strange times. Pokémon may be turning into a threat for humans, like with that Suicune incident-"

"Suicune is just a suspect," Kris said quickly, prompting Leaf to look at her. "Uh, well, I mean, it's not a hundred percent sure that it did it. Uh, anyway, I'm pretty sure I understand why Blaine is out on this mission, and Iris, well, she's Iris, but what's your stake in this?"

Leaf sighed, looked up from what she was doing and briefly stopped working on the Miltank. The moment Kris saw that, she believed she had said something stupid.

"Um, I mean, if it's not too-"

"It's a valid question," Leaf muttered as she went back to work on the Miltank, carefully opening its mouth to take a look inside. "Remember how I told you about knowing Red? Well, through him I met Blue and things led to other things, you don't need to know that... problem is, he wasn't really there. Red is the only thing Blue cares about. Finding him, beating him, and probably giving him a big ol' kiss once they meet. I guess I was just a way for Blue to get to Red."

"But anyway," Leaf continued, checking the Miltank's eyeballs, "I was happy with my research, really, and everything seemed to go the way I wanted it to. Until my best friend went on a mission with Red's group. All this time we were friends, but I never knew Julia was a part of Red's team. She asked me to join many times, but I didn't think it was important, I even... well, I was offered a promotion, but the clause was cutting my ties to my friend, and cutting any ties to Red's group."

"And then he went missing, and I knew something was up, but I still refused to associate with Julia until the very last days leading up to this. The offer to promote me was just me getting screwed, Professor Oak stopped keeping contact with me and eventually Julia and two other members of Red's group, Copycat and Emerald, went on an important mission on Route 224 with the idea to try and communicate with Suicune and investigate this strange rock they have there. This was almost two months ago. They... didn't come back."

**~o~O~o~**

Meanwhile, outside the barn, Shrew was running around, playing with Murkrow without a care in the world.

Suddenly, it stopped, stood on its hind legs and popped its ears up again, prompting Murkrow to look at it in confusion, not hearing anything itself. Then, without warning, Shrew started running away, disappearing into the woods nearby incredibly quickly, moving faster than it had ever moved in its life.

Shrew ran as fast as it could, jumping over rocks and logs as it dashed through the forest, scaring away many bird Pokémon. Somehow, it knew exactly where it was headed, hearing an echoing voice inside its head:

" _Shreeeew... Shreeewww... over here..._ "

Shrew didn't care how the voice got in its head, how it knew where to go and how it had managed to contact it. It was a familiar voice to the little Sandshrew, despite it not having heard it in almost a year. Yet, it couldn't mistaken the soothing, irresistible voice for anything else.

Suddenly, strong, sticky vines appeared out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around Shrew, quickly stopping his momentum. Shrew struggled against them, attempting to cut them apart with its claws, wasting no time wondering where they came from, but the vines were impossible to break and soon they wrapped themselves around Shrew entirely before dragging it away.

Shrew quickly found itself in a clearing just a few yards away from the path. Dozens of Spearow and Murkrow stared down on him from the trees, while a gang of four Pokémon, all larger than Shrew, had the frightened Sandshrew cornered. This time, Shrew didn't want to waste time curling up, shivering or acting scared. It had places to be in.

The four Pokémon that stared at Shrew's struggling were a Granbull, an Emolga, a Gligar and a Tangela, the latter's vines keeping Shrew in place. The Granbull, a bipedal, canine Pokémon with a pronounced lower jaw and humongous fangs, smirked as it watched Shrew's struggling.

"No use!" the Granbull barked. "You're right where want ya now. The more you resist, the harder Tangela will squeeze."

Shrew stopped struggling, but Tangela just lifted It off the air and the slammed it on the ground. Shrew landed on its belly, the air knocked out of it, leaving it coughing and gasping for air. The bird Pokémon watching above cawed and screeched at him in sadistic glee. As Shrew opened its eyes, watching Granbull stand right above it, the Sandshrew's response was to stare back in defiance.

"You think I don't have more important places to be right now?" Shrew wheezed as Tangela's vines wrapped around its body more tightly. "I don't really care what you guys want. If it's a battle, forget it. If you want to mug me, you've got the wrong target. And if you wanted to kill me, you'd have done it already. So what gives?"

"He doesn't remember, as I suspected," said the Emolga – the little rodent-like Pokémon who was the smallest and least threatening of the bunch, though it was still larger than Shrew. The Emolga's voice, however, was cold, contemptuous and dripping with hate. "And looks like he hasn't changed from those days."

"Yeah, he hasn't," Granbull growled. "And his idea wasn't half bad. I say we finish him off right away!"

The Gligar took this advice to heart, snapping its pincers as it lunged towards Shrew, but Emolga stepped between them.

"Not yet!" the squirrel Pokémon argued. "And rest assured, Granbull, I will discuss this with the commander. She'll be most displeased if she's robbed of a chance to settle the score."

"What in Hades are you guys babbling about?" Shrew coughed. "If you're in the middle of something, I can go and-"

But Shrew's plea was interrupted by a squeal of pain as Tangela lifted Sandshrew in the air, flipped it around and slammed it on the ground again, this time on its back. With its unprotected underbelly exposed, Tangela whipped it with its vines. Shrew closed its eyes and grit its teeth, but didn't let out even the softest squeal.

"Hey!" Emolga snapped. "Not quite yet, I promise that you'll get your turn, Tangela, but we need to get going. His human will soon notice that he's gone and then she'll come after us."

"Hah, let her come!" said the Gligar, its voice raspy and its tongue hanging strangely. "I've waited long enough! Bring them on, I say!"

"Oh, shut up!" Emolga said. "And help Tangela carry this waste of air to the commander."

Gligar snarled at the Emolga, but for whatever reason, did as it told anyway, harshly grabbing Shrew with its pincers, ignoring the fact they were digging into its flesh. Emolga flew ahead as Tangela and Gligar, carrying the confused Shrew, followed Granbull away from the clearing.

As they walked to a deeper, darker part of the forest in complete silence, Shrew tried to look around him. Dozens of wild Pokémon, Rattata, Raticate, Sentret, Furret, Ekans, Meowth and the like were watching the group's progress, as were the flocks of Spearow and Murkrow, many gloating, others just plainly observing, some just quietly hanging their heads as the group walked by. A couple of Sentret tried to get closer to Shrew, but promptly ran away when Gligar hissed at them.

Finally, the group arrived to a more isolated part of the forest. Gligar and Tangela threw Shrew on the ground roughly, but any plans of escape were preempted by Gligar holding its pincer on Shrew's neck. Emolga flew towards what seemed to be a throne, crudely built from rocks, branches and moss. Two Machop were using gigantic leaves as fans to cool their leader down, also preventing Shrew from seeing this 'commander'.

"Commander, we have brought him to you," Emolga said smarmily as it bowed. "Finally, you can find respite and we can all move on from our torment."

"Let me see him," the leader, unquestionably a Pokémon, said.

The Machop stopped fanning their leader and stepped away, revealing the leader to be badly scarred Zangoose. Large chunk of its white fur was missing and many of its long claws were broken.

"You..." Shrew said slowly.

The Zangoose smiled cruelly.

"...are a complete stranger to me," Shrew admitted.

Zangoose's smile faded and she closed her eyes, preventing herself from sinking its claws into Shrew's brain. Tangela punished Shrew by whacking it with its vines again.

"AHH! Do you mind?" Shrew snapped and turned to look at this so-called 'commander'. "Look, I don't know what you guys want from me, but you couldn't have chosen a worse timing. I've got a date with a creepy voice in my head!"

"I was afraid he wouldn't remember," Emolga cooed at Zangoose, flying on the armrest of her throne. "He clearly makes no apologies. But he's at your mercy now. He can _finally_ pay back for what he did!"

"Did _what_ exactly?" Shrew wondered. "Look, this is a fine little multiracial cult you've gathered here, but I've never met you Pokémon in my life, so unless this is about that couch I stained at the Lavender Volunteer House, then-"

Zangoose stood up and walked towards Shrew. She had no expression on her face, she just stared at Shrew coldly. Gligar backed away from Shrew when it saw Zangoose approaching and even Shrew didn't think of running away. Zangoose picked Shrew up with one paw and used the one good claw from its other paw to stab Shrew in the stomach. Instead of doing it quickly, however, she slowly pushed the claw deeper into Shrew, first through the Sandshrew's skin to make it bleed, then further below. This time, Shrew couldn't just grit its teeth, but it let out a pained shriek that reverberated through the forest.

"Does it hurt?" Zangoose whispered in Shrew's years.

"...yes, mightily," Shrew grunted as the claw sank deeper into his flesh. "Is that all you... _ahh_ _..._ wanted... or can I... go?"

"I'm surprised," Zangoose said plainly as it twisted the claw in the wound, making Shrew shriek again. "Surprised you can feel anything anymore. Though I doubt you ever felt anything in the first place, Shrew. That was just a fraction of what _we_ had to go through! You were there, in the middle of it, you knew it just as well as we did - but you left us there!"

Zangoose pulled the claw slowly away from the wound but still held Shrew in its grip, letting Shrew's blood drip on the ground. Shrew and Zangoose stared at each other and Shrew didn't have any comebacks in store this time. His black eyes widened a little as he seemed to slowly come to a realization, finally remembering something...

"It's been, what, a year, has it Shrew?" Zangoose said. "And you've already forgotten? I should have listened to Emolga, but I was willing to believe you felt sorry for what you did."

Zangoose tossed Shrew on the ground, and with the small but deep cut in his stomach, Shrew couldn't run anywhere. But to Shrew's surprise, Tangela waddled towards him and blew some kind of spores at the wound. And, slowly, it started to close up, though the pain still remained. Shrew just stared at Zangoose in confusion, while Zangoose stared back relentlessly.

"...why did you...?"

"We may be running low on time," Zangoose said, "but that's no reason we shouldn't make most of what we have. We want to see _exactly_ how long you can survive."

"If it wasn't for Tangela, we'd have died there," Granbull growled, "but even then we weren't fast enough!"

"I can't help but to wonder," said Emolga, who started flying circles a few feet above Shrew, who still felt severe, burning pain in his stomach. "How much did all the others hurt, hmm? Who defines what is the right amount of pain to punish the likes of you?"

"You... no... you can't be," Shrew mumbled weakly. It tried to stand up, but Tangela slammed it again, sending the little Sandshrew on its knees. "I thought all of you were dead..."

"You never bothered to find out, did you?" Emolga taunted. "And where is that Cyndaquil skank of yours? Did you abandon her as soon as the going got rough too?"

But Shrew focused its attention on Zangoose, who quietly observed Shrew's pathetic attempts to stand up again.

"Navel Rock..." Shrew wheezed. "How did you...?"

"For three hundred and thirty-two days, I waited," Zangoose said as it approached Shrew slowly, raising its claw again. "I promised myself, my friends and everyone who died by the hands of the humans at that facility that I'd find you again, so you'll excuse me if I'm a little overwhelmed by everything. Seeing you traveling with those humans, though... I don't even know why I was surprised."

Zangoose stopped in front of Shrew and slashed his face, making a deep cut on its cheek.

"First, you'll get to feel _e_ _verything_ we felt," Zangoose said quietly. Granbull took a step towards Shrew, but Zangoose stopped it from coming closer. "Then, we'll pay for the rest. There were hundreds of us, though, but I doubt I'll be bored. I just hope there's still something left inside you to hurt. Otherwise, well, this just won't be any fun."

**~o~O~o~**

"Shrew! Shrew, where are you?"

"I don't think that's going to work," Leaf said. "Sandshrew have good senses of hearing and smell, so either he's too far away by now or he doesn't want to be found."

Kris and Leaf wandered around Route 39, Leaf having supplied the Farmer family some medicine to heal their sick Miltank. Kris had been calling out for her Sandshrew for over an hour, though she had a suspicion that Shrew had been missing for even longer than that.

"Why did it leave?" Kris wondered. "I haven't treated it badly... recently. It seems to have been perfectly happy with me. Can... can Pokémon just leave their trainers?" Kris asked Leaf.

Leaf took her time to reply as she had to ponder how to phrase her answer: "Technically speaking, unless you officially release, a Pokémon is 'yours' in the sense that no one else can capture it with a Poké Ball. But Pokémon are autonomous, intelligent creatures. Capturing them with a Poké Ball doesn't brainwash them, but most of them like working with humans, at least humans who treat them kindly, and do obey their trainers quickly. Others take more time-"

"-yeah, and some don't obey at all, like my Totodile," Kris grumbled. "And if I can't battle with it, it won't ever evolve, so I'm stuck like this for-frickin'-ever. But I have treated it kindly!"

"You have to understand that Shrew has underwent something terrible," Leaf said calmly. "When I found it, it was barely alive."

"What _did_ happen to it, exactly?" Kris asked. "And what's this deal with Navel Rock?"

"That's what I'd like to know, too," Leaf said, shaking her head. "I mean, it exploded, that much is for sure, but Navel Rock is an island far at the Sevii Islands and I found it on the route between Saffron and Lavender. There's no way it could have swum and then walk there in that condition. I need to investigate further."

"Oh, and speaking of your investigations," Kris said, "does it involve, well, Team Rocket? I mean, _Neo_ Team Rocket. Damn, that name is stupid, by the way."

Leaf stopped Kris by grabbing her arm, staring at her while frowning. "How did you know?"

"Oh, I stopped an operation of theirs back in Azalea," Kris said, unable to avoid sounding a little smug about it. "Well, I had help from, uh, _several_ people, but I did a bulk of it. They were cutting tails... and stuff... from Slowpoke."

"Slowpoketails," Leaf repeated.

Kris shrugged. "People eat stranger things. When you're a pompous prick, you have to make sure people _know_ just how wealthy you are. There's a market for even weirder status symbols, I tell you that. Anyway, this Team Rocket guy mentioned you – well, I assume you're a 'scientist chick from Pewter' who's connected to Blaine."

"Unless they meant Julia," Leaf muttered to herself, letting go of Kris.

"Oh, right," Kris said awkwardly. "Um, sorry about your loss and all that..."

Leaf just nodded in acknowledgment, but was mostly deep in thought again. Kris decided not to bother her, and the two continued walking in search of Shrew.

**~o~O~o~**

Meanwhile, south of Kris and Leaf, a young man with blondish hair, plenty of scars, tanned skin and a long, blue coat walked around, surveying the area. He carried a brown bag with him, suspiciously watching every person who passed him, every trainer having a match with another in the distance.

Finally, he seemed to find what he was looking for. A girl with brown pigtails, a strange puffy hat and overalls, battling with a Quilava against a youngster's Rattata. Although before he had even reached them, the battle was over, the Quilava effortlessly knocking Rattata away, forcing the youngster to grudgingly recall his Pokémon and hand the pigtailed girl a wad of cash.

"...still proved that my Rattata is in the top percentage of Rattatas," the youngster told the girl as Wes slowly approached them. "I mean, Rattataie. I mean... well, the plural of Rattata."

"Yeah, you're probably wrong on that, Joey," the girl replied. "But anyway, thanks for the battle. Really, if you were a better trainer, you'd have probably beat me!"

"Um, thanks, Lyra..." the youngster said. "So, do you want to exchange phone numbers? You know, we could chat about the good old school days and all."

"No, actually," Lyra said. "See, you're a bit too annoying for my tastes. But thanks for the offer! Bye!"

The youngster walked away while Lyra gratefully patted her Quilava on the head and offered it a treat. Making sure the youngster was far enough, the man in the blue coat approached Lyra, clearing his throat to announce his presence.

"Ah, saw my triumph, did you?" Lyra said immediately upon noticing him. She looked at him up and down. "Nice look, by the way. I'm guessing you're not from around here? You dress a bit strangely. Anyway, want to battle."

"Another time," the man replied. "Just wanted to ask... do you happen to be Lyra, from New Bark Town?"

"Yup, the best town in the... how did you know that?" Lyra wondered. "Sure, I have four badges already, but has my reputation really gotten this far. See, I told you that, Scorch," Lyra told her Quilava.

The man also looked at the Quilava. "Your Pokémon sure gave that Rattata a good walloping," he said. "How long have you had it?"

"Oh, not even that long," Lyra said, "just trained it to my best abilities. Wait... this isn't about a trade, is it? I have loads of Pokémon, like fifty of them, but I'm not trading Scorch. She's my starter, and she basically carries this team. Besides, she's grown used to me, I saw it evolve and everything. It was sent to me from a breeding center in Johto, although it wasn't bred there, they had just taken it in after it went through some awful trauma."

"I see," the man said. "But no, I'm not there for that either. You seen a Sandshrew around here recently?"

"Oh, I have like three Sandshrew," Lyra said excitedly. "Haven't caught any of them recently, though, and they've all been sent to the Daycare and my home, so I don't have any of them on me."

"Thanks, but I'm looking for a specific one," the man said politely. "And by any chance, have you seen this person?"

The man showed Lyra a file picture of pale, dark-haired girl with noticeable dark circles under her eyes, the picture having been obtained from Earl's Pokémon Academy. Lyra frowned and looked up at the man.

"That's Kris," Lyra said quietly and eyed the man suspiciously. "Are you with the police? Is she in trouble? I mean, I knew it would happen eventually, you wouldn't _believe_ her browser history, if that stuff is not illegal, it ought to be."

"No, no, I met her myself back in Azalea," the man said quickly. "But have you seen her 'round here?"

"No," Lyra said honestly. "But, um, you said you met her right?

"Yes."

"Is, uh... she alright?" Lyra asked casually while kicking sand around and staring at her shoes. "Like, her physical health is good and everything? She doesn't have a cold, a rash or leprosy?"

"Not on the parts I could see," the man admitted. "Why?"

"What, am I not allowed to ask?" Lyra asked defensively. "And what's it to you, anyway? Why are you so interested in Kris?"

The man raised his hands. "Hey, just making conversation. And it's not all about her, you know. So, you're taking the Pokémon League challenge, it seems. And you have a PokéGear? Good, should you ever want some new, well, challenges suited for an able trainer... call me."

He gave Lyra his card. Lyra frowned as she read the number printed on it, with the name ' _Wesley Marston_ ' written under it. As she was about to ask about it, the man was already gone.

**~o~O~o~**

Another pained scream by Shrew echoed throughout the forest, but it was drowned out by uproarious laughter from Granbull, Emolga, Gligar and the various bird Pokémon watching from above. Zangoose didn't laugh, but watched with sadistic glee as Tangela held the Sandshew in the air and squeezed, tightening its grip whenever it felt Shrew was getting used to the pain.

Finally, Zangoose signaled for Tangela to stop. Obediently, Tangela let go of Shrew, letting him drop nine feet and hit the hard ground, prompting more laughter from the spectators as Shrew coughed and wheezed.

"You've held out for quite a while," Zangoose observed. "I guess it's true that there's nothing really left inside you to hurt."

"C'mon, c'mon, it's my turn now!" the Gligar growled and snapped its pincers impatiently.

"Hey, I haven't gotten one yet!" Granbull barked. "Besides, you might cut him to ribbons with those things!"

"Shut up!" Emolga yelled – it hadn't taken a part in the fun, it just sat on a tree branch and observed. "The boss is talking!"

Zangoose walked to Shrew, speaking so quietly that the others had to be quiet so they could hear every taunt.

"Can you hear them?" Zangoose asked softly. "They're all eager to deliver some justice. Don't you feel like you deserved this?"

Shrew spat away the blood on its mouth and turned to look up at Zangoose, who was still smiling.

"No," Shrew said defiantly. "How did you manage to get this gang together, anyway? From what I can remember, back at the lab, there was a band of crazed thugs led by a Sawk... or a Throh... I can never tell 'em apart."

"They're gone!" Granbull growled. "And the commander here saved our lives! We were still trapped in one of the labs at the bottom floor, right when the flooding started. There were twelve of us, originally, but because you and the humans were so eager to get out and save yourselves, four of us drowned and three of us were butchered by those _things_ that came from the portal..."

Granbull stomped closer to Shrew to rant at him, the canine Pokémon drooling all over the Sandshrew.

"Weren't you in a similar situation?" Granbull snarled. "When that first explosion occurred. We saw it all from the surveillance tapes, you know. You bailed out your little Cyndaquil and left the rest to burn. Are you saying you forgot their screams of agony? Or the smell?"

Shrew laughed weakly and semi-deliriously. "Oh yeah, now I remember you," Shrew coughed. "You... didn't you make the first push for the emergency exits? Yeah, I can look at cameras too... you tore up a quite a lot of scientists, there too... and a couple of Pokémon... but hey, I can understand trying to save your own ass... respect, bro..."

Granbull opened its mouth and almost bit Shrew, but Zangoose pushed it away. Making sure the Granbull stayed in line, Zangoose turned towards Shrew, who still coughed and laughed.

"They deserved it," Zangoose said plainly. " _We,_ on the other hand, just wanted to be free. You took that chance away from us. Conspiring with the humans again... I can see why you were the professor's favorite. But I guess loyalty wasn't one of your strengths any point - did you kill him too? Was he slowing you down or something?"

Shrew's eyes were rolling and he couldn't focus on Zangoose, but he still found the strength to talk: "You don't know what happened there... don't even pretend you do..."

Shivering and coughing blood, Shrew nonetheless got back on its feet, though it had to use its tail to keep its balance and it had to stand hunched.

"So, now that we're having this little reunion," Shrew said, "why don't you tell me how you got out? I thought everyone died... if not when the place crumbled, then at least when they blew up the place... and better yet, how did you guys find me from all the backwaters of Johto, huh?"

"Flippant as always," Emolga observed. "Maybe we should tell him that when he and those humans used the teleporter, it caused a shock wave that furthered the destruction of the facility. Yes, Shrew, _you_ caused it to crumble."

"...I know," Shrew sighed. "It was necessary to kill all those monsters..."

"Did you even stop to consider other options?" Emolga inquired. "Well, stupid question, really. I suppose that conveniently allowed you to get rid of any witnesses!"

"Be quiet, Emolga," Zangoose said calmly. "Some of us managed to find a chamber that protected from radiation-"

"And of course you took the time to make sure everyone got in, right?" Shrew taunted. "Heroically ensured the survival of as many Pokémon as possible?"

"Of course not!" Granbull barked. "We were seconds away from certain death, you idiot!"

"...and yet you don't see any hypocrisy in this?" Shrew grumbled.

Granbull took a step towards Shrew, but restrained itself. Emolga and Tangela were quiet, while Gligar was nowhere to be seen. Zangoose continued its explanation.

"The chamber started flooding soon," Zangoose said. "The explosion had torn a hole in the outer wall... we were able to swim to the surface through that and get away before humans arrived to clean up after themselves."

Zangoose folded its "arms".

"As for how we found you," she said, "that's what I'd like to know as well. We received a tip that you were here, and didn't waste time coming to meet you. Clearly someone else besides us has a bone to pick with you, which only proves our point. Who is it, Shrew?"

"...I... I have a hunch," Shrew said quietly. "So, you trust this, whoever it is? Pokémon? A human? Or something else? You trust it even though it knows something it shouldn't, even though it was able to track _you_ down and somehow knew where I was? And you really think something with this kind of power won't send another pack of Pokémon after _you_ once this is all done?"

Zangoose remained completely expressionless as it observed Shrew. Granbull and Tangela didn't seem to have anything to say either, prompting Emolga to land next to Zangoose.

"Ignore it, commander," Emolga said to Zangoose. "Whoever it is, we owe them – their information was right, wasn't it? And Granbull, Tangela and Gligar saw it too, it was traveling with humans... where is Gligar anyway?"

Its question was soon answered as the Gligar flew into sight and landed on the other side of Zangoose, whispering something in her ear. Zangoose's eyes widened at the news.

"Bring her in," Zangoose told the two Machop slaves.

The Machop saluted and walked into the bushes. For a while, it was completely quiet. Shrew stood still, too weak to even try a getaway, and the five Pokémon stared at him relentlessly.

Soon, the Machop returned, and a small, mousey Pokémon with closed eyes arrived to the clearing, illuminating the place with the flames sticking out of its back. Shrew had to suppress a gasp when he saw Cyndaquil walking uncertainly and stopping a few yards away from Shrew.

"No..." Shrew whispered. "Quill... how..."

 _It couldn't be her_ , Shrew thought. But the voice he heard before was unmistakably hers. Shrew may have spent the last year trying to forget the details of what happened on Navel Rock, but there was one thing he could never forget... something that he thought died for sure, but at this point, very little could surprise him.

"Well," Zangoose said, her eyes darting back and forth between Shrew and Cyndaquil. "I guess there's one thing even Emolga was wrong about. You did keep her around, after all..."

Shrew just stared at Cyndaquil, his mouth gaping.

"Everlasting love, is it, Shrew?" Emolga mocked. "Or did you just keep her around to have your way with her every now and then? A little relief after all those traumatizing things... hell, maybe you even wanted some offspring to make sure Pokémon as treacherous as you will still walk in this world after you're gone?"

"And now we have something of yours to hurt," Gligar said gleefully, drooling as it stared at Cyndaquil. "Rest and watch, Shrew!"

Gligar flew towards Cyndaquil, its pincers ready to stab. Shrew, however, would have none of it. Before Granbull and Tangela could stop him, he curled into a ball. Using its patented Rollout move, Shrew spun towards Gligar and struck it in the stomach, sending the scorpion-like Pokémon flying backwards until it hit a tree and was knocked unconscious.

Shrew landed in front of Cyndaquil, spreading its tiny arms in her defense. When it attacked Gligar, it had felt no pain, but now it was all rushing back to him.

"...you all right, Quill?" he grunted.

"Y-yes!" Cyndaquil gasped. "He didn't even get to touch me, I'm fine! But w-what about you?"

"...all things considered?" Shrew asked. "Like crap, actually..."

"Impressive," Zangoose observed. "All that time spent lounging around with humans and getting to chow on grade-A Pokémon food hasn't softened you, at least..."

"Shut your face," Shrew grunted at her. "You might think that I couldn't possibly understand what you went through, but you're wrong. Whatever you experienced, before or after the incident, I went through something ten times worse. You think they chose me for the experiments because I played nice with the humans? When you play nice, they know you've gotten weak... so most of the time, those who played nice got fed to the rest of us. They did unspeakable things to me and Quill here... I don't _need_ to be reminded of it."

Shrew stared at Zangoose's eyes, hoping Quill would come up with a plan like last time. Shrew's only plan was to keep the conversation going.

"But you're right in one thing," Shrew said. "I didn't stop to help everyone. I was focused on getting myself and Cyndaquil out of that place. And on some level, I knew there were Pokémon still alive in the lower floors. Believe me, I did everything in my power to aid any Pokémon that I met on the way to the teleport that _didn't_ try to kill me for the sole reason of getting chosen as the main lab rat... but I wasn't a hero. I wasn't like you."

"He admits it," Emolga said to Zangoose. "It still changes nothing. He has to pay for what he did!"

"I pay for it every single day," Shrew interrupted, still talking to Zangoose, whose expression still hadn't changed. "I can't ever make up for what I did. It's done. So I'd rather forget and try to live with it. I'm traveling with some humans and helping them. I don't know what that makes me, but I want to help someone... it's the least I can do."

"Shrew," Cyndaquil whispered. "I'm so glad to see you again..."

Shrew gulped, but when he spoke again, his voice was more firm, more confident.

"I only tried to save one," Shrew asserted, "and I failed with that too. I thought Quill here was as dead as all of you. But you tried to save more," Shrew told Zangoose, "and you got these four out. I don't know how, but you seemed to pick the four that deserved it the least. They weren't too busy trying to save you or anyone else. I don't know what they had been through, but if they think killing me will bring them some justice, or closure, they're wrong. They'll have to live with it just like I do. They don't deserve your help."

The commander would never listen to you!" Emolga yelled. "You betrayed us to the humans that caused all our suffering!"

"I didn't," Shrew said calmly. "I just wanted to get me and Quill out of there, and my success rate was only fifty percent. I only fought other Pokémon when they tried to prevent me from doing that. It was Quill who got another batch of lab Pokémon to fight against those Team Rocket goons. She was doing something selfless, like you, Zangoose. But if you kill me and her now, then none of it won't matter and you'll be just as bad as me."

"Team Rocket?" Zangoose said quietly. "Were they the ones who attacked us and unleashed those monsters on us?"

Shrew shook his head.

"They were a part of it, but they were obeying something else," Shrew said confidently. "Whatever it is, the same thing is manipulating all of you. And if I were to guess," Shrew added, glaring at Emolga, "that little squirrel assistant of yours would know something about it."

"We were warned you'd try to play mind games with us," Emolga hissed. "You never cared about anything besides yourself, you'd even sacrifice Cyndaquil if it meant getting away."

"Let's test that," Zangoose said suddenly.

Shrew, Granbull and Tangela stared at Zangoose while Emolga was bewildered.

"Wha-huh?"

"I don't want anyone else get hurt besides you, Shrew," Zangoose said, nodding in the direction of the unconscious Gligar, "not even Cyndaquil, so I'm willing to compromise. Let us have her – we'll take her in, make her one of us and take care of her. In return, you'll get your one chance to get away and defend yourself. You need to be ready when we come to get you next time."

"We don't know how long that might take!" Emolga hissed. "And I... we made a promise to it!"

"These are my terms!" Zangoose said, ignoring Emolga. "Do you accept?"

Shrew breathed deep and started sweating. How could he make a decision like that? In no way did he trust any one of those creeps, not even Zangoose, and all that torture certainly didn't help. But what other options were there? Shrew wasn't in the best shape to escape, or fight for that matter.

Shrew looked behind him for support. Cyndaquil's and Shrew's eyes met for a moment and Cyndaquil shook her head slightly. Shrew nodded.

"No way," Shrew said finally. "I'm sorry, but what you're asking is too much."

Zangoose squinted, while Granbull started growling.

"There's no reasoning with you, is there?" the Granbull said. "What did you expect the alternatives were? We let you go in peace? If you don't wanna give her to us, we'll take her!"

Granbull leaped towards Shrew, who reacted instantly. Yelling at Cyndaquil to dodge, Shrew stepped in front of her as Cyndaquil ran behind cover. As Granbull was about to tackle Shrew, the Sandshrew extended its claws and poked at the Granbull.

The Granbull stopped and tumbled down, but didn't seem to be in pain. Looking at where Shrew had stabbed it, Granbull saw Shrew's claw lodged in the tiny, shallow wound. Granbull stood up, pulled the claw away and laughed.

"Hah! You'll have to do better than that to... to... you... you bast..."

Suddenly, Granbull started to stagger, then it crashed down again, its face greenish and its eyes crossed as it started coughing. Zangoose, Emolga and Tangela just stared in shock while Shrew stood in front of Cyndaquil again.

"Poison Sting," Shrew explained. "Just a more powerful variation of it I worked on. My claw will grow back, but Granbull is not getting up if you don't get him treated soon. Any one of you tries anything like that, they'll get the same fate. Back off!" Shrew yelled at Tangela, who was about to grab Cyndaquil away with its vines.

"Do as he says," Zangoose said, "and get Granbull fixed up. Maybe that'll teach him not to attack without my permission."

Zangoose stared at Shrew – she didn't seem angry, just contemplative.

"I'm sorry," Shrew said weakly. "Sorry for everything you had to go through. Go!" he told Cyndaquil, who started running into the forest. "Sorry to see you still being slaves to someone, even though the ordeal is over and you could be... well, I guess none of us will ever be free... but you could at least try. Any one of you try to follow us, you'll die, by the way. I better not be seeing you again."

Shrew and Zangoose stared at each other for a while, then Shrew ran after Cyndaquil.

After running an indeterminate amount of time and arriving to a pond close to the path where Shrew had been ambushed, Shrew and Cyndaquil finally stopped running. After catching its breath, Shrew stopped to just stare at Cyndaquil, tears in his eyes.

"How are you here?" he whispered. "I thought you..."

"Shh, calm down," Cyndaquil whispered softly.

"Why didn't you... I mean, last I saw you, your flamethrower attack grilled so many of those monsters... why didn't you use it now?"

Cyndaquil just watched Shrew sadly. Shrew shook his head.

"Oh, it doesn't matter," he groaned. "I've been thinking about you so much. I never even thought you could be..."

Shrew tried to touch Cyndaquil's paw with his, but instead, his paw went right through, as if there was nothing but air. Shrew stared at what happened.

"And I'm not," Cyndaquil said tearfully. "I'm sorry, Shrew. I'm no longer here. This is my last chance in this world... and I wanted to use it well."

"How... you're a... why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry," Cyndaquil said. "I needed to make sure. I was sure you couldn't make it through the teleportation either. Seeing that it really was you and you were really alive, I..." Cyndaquil gulped. "I'm so happy to know that."

"You saved my life, Quill," Shrew said. "After I tried so hard to save yours..."

"You tried," Cyndaquil said. "And you got those humans out, too. You're a hero, Shrew, no matter what those Pokémon might say. Go on. What do you remember after the teleport activated?"

"I..." Shrew sniffed. "Someone brought me to the Lavender Volunteer House. They nursed me to health, I guess. I'm not quite sure. For the first three days, all I thought about was what happened over there... and you."

"That thing you were carrying, the Griseous Orb," Cyndaquil said. "Did you get it to safety?"

"No, that human, Wes, took it," Shrew admitted. "I'm sorry... I couldn't even do that..."

"It's okay," Cyndaquil smiled. "Humans, we should have known. So they nursed you to health and gave you to the first ignorant human they came across?"

Shrew shook his head. "I fled, and this one found me. She's different, Quill, she's not like the others."

"You can try to get past it," Cyndaquil said, "but you should never forget. You must remember what you did, always, to use that strength of yours for good. I already saw some of that, when you fought so hard to save me just now. And that's why I'm here... to set you on the path. You can start making up for what happened there."

"I... can?" Shrew whispered. "Quill, there's nothing that I want more than that. Tell me how!"

"The Griseous Orb," Cyndaquil explained. "It's not safe with humans. You need to find it. And that ball that the girl is carrying around..."

"The GS Ball?"

"Yes. Make sure it gets to its destination. Do you remember?"

"Dr. Gideon at the Whirl Islands," Shrew said. "Yeah, she's been talking about that a lot."

"Do you think she'll even succeed?" Cyndaquil asked. "They're greedy, incompetent, self-centered - isn't it obvious that they're not looking out for the greater good?"

"What are you...?"

"I'm sorry, Shrew, but you have no other choice. You have to kill her."

Shrew stared at Cyndaquil, whose voice and manners remained as soothing and quiet as ever. And yet...

"It's the only way," Cyndaquil said calmly. "What she's carrying could put an end to all this, the fate of all Pokémon everywhere depends on it, and she doesn't even know it. It's too much responsibility for her to wield. Do it in her sleep. You have sharp claws, it'll be quick, easy, painless and-"

"Who are you?" Shrew trembled.

Cyndaquil tilted its head and smiled.

"Shrew, what are you talking about? It's me, Quill."

"No it isn't," Shrew whispered. "I still remember the last words that Quill spoke to me before... you should have done your homework before all this. Who are you?"

Cyndaquil smiled even wider. "Took you long enough," she said coldly.

And then before Shrew's eyes, Cyndaquil started to morph. It grew larger, soon towering sixteen feet tall and becoming an entirely different Pokémon. It was enormous, gray centipede-like Pokémon with six legs, six claws and six dark, gaseous wings. A golden helmet concealed large parts of its face but left its two, small, red eyes visible.

"I knew it," Shrew whispered, looking up at the newly transformed creature. "The beast of the Distortion World... you're the one who spoke to me then... you almost made me kill myself..."

" _Not just then_ _!_ "

Giratina's voice didn't seem to come from the Pokémon itself, but it echoed all over, especially in Shrew's head. Shrew tried to cover its ears, but nothing could block the voice from booming inside its skull.

"W-where's Quill?" Shrew asked, still covering its ears.

" _Heaven, Hell, who knows. You're the one who was there. Wherever she is, she's most likely safer than with you_."

Shrew closed its eyes too, unable to look at the beast. But even that didn't help - it was as if the thing was in Shrew's mind.

" _Ah, so you're wondering why I went through all this trouble? It's simple, really. For five thousand years, I've been trapped in the Distortion World, only recently gaining the ability to manifest in this world in spirit form. This was your second chance to be saved from the upcoming annihilation and you squandered it again – no surprise there. At least you'll see the incredible ride I have planned for the coming months. You don't want to find the orb for me? Fine. You were just a contingency plan, after all. I'll be seeing you around, Shrew..._ "

Giratina turned into a black cloud of smoke, then vanished completely. Shrew stared blankly forward for a while, then gave into the pain and passed out. It briefly woke up, as if in a trance, to see a human gently picking it up, but soon slipped into unconsciousness again.

**~o~O~o~**

Hours later, Kris and Leaf still kept walking down Route 39 in search of Shrew. Though Kris was still worried, talking to Leaf calmed her down. Whilst talking with her, Kris even found herself laughing on occasion, and while Leaf herself didn't laugh, she was talkative and smiled often.

 _So this is what it's like to have friends... no, wait, that was a loser thought_.

"You really know professor Elm?" Kris asked her.

"Yeah, Blaine introduced him to me," Leaf chimed. "I know he studied under Oak himself and I've always thought his theories were pretty neat. Oh, sorry, nerd talking here."

"Hey, it's all right," Kris said. "I'm a bit of a... well, come to think of it, I guess I'm more like a geek than anything. The difference has always eluded me."

"I was just joking," Leaf smiled. "So you have some hobbies that may be different from the mainstream or you're really passionate about something, who cares? It's a part of you, but it doesn't define who you are, and it certainly shouldn't be used as a weapon of mockery by someone."

Kris smiled – then gasped in shock as she saw a man with a blue coat walking towards the duo, cradling a Sandshrew on his arms.

"Hi there," the man said with a sly smile, while Kris and Leaf just froze. "One of you missin' a Pokémon?"

Leaf looked at Kris, who just stared at the man, so she ran to him and carefully took the Sandshrew from the man. Before doing anything else, Leaf sprayed its wounds with a Super Potion. After disinfecting its wounds, Leaf fed Shrew a Revive, an octahedron-shaped pill that finally made Shrew open its eyes, though it looked incredibly groggy. Finally, Leaf injected it with a similar syringe she used on Miltank.

"You were the one who stole my wallet," Kris pointed out, while the man just stood there and smiled. "Leaf, isn't this the guy?"

Leaf looked up from Shrew, first irritated by Kris not caring, then seeming to realize what she talked about. "Oh, yeah," she said. "That's the guy."

"Look, if you want to rob me again, you're wasting your time," Kris said as she glared at the man, feeling herself increasingly irritated by his presence. "Since my last visit to the shop, I'm pretty much broke."

"I'm sorry for what I did," said the man, "but I needed to make sure it was really you. These are interesting times we live in, and times like these call for extraordinary people-"

"Spare me," Kris groaned. "There's nothing extraordinary about me. So you're not a thief, you're a stalker – that really makes me feel better about all this."

"The name's Wes," the man continued, ignoring Kris' rantings. He took a pause, as if to calculate Kris and Leaf's reactions. "Huh, I guess that name holds no weight anywhere besides Orre," he sighed. "Anyhow, I hear you're going through trials of some sort. Keep at it. People always have room to better themselves. Be seeing you 'round."

"Arceus, I hope not," Kris muttered. "Don't follow me again."

Wes nodded at Kris and Leaf before walking away, whistling a jaunty tune with his hands in his pockets, wanting Kris to pick up a rock from the ground and throw it at him. Then, she finally remembered Sandshrew, running to Leaf to take it.

But the moment she took a step, she started staggering a bit, closing her eyes and stopping. Leaf looked at her with concern.

"Sorry..." Kris mumbled, eyes still closed. "Feeling a bit light-headed, is all."

"Have you eaten anything since breakfast?" Leaf inquired.

"I didn't even have breakfast," Kris mumbled. "And I'd probably kill you where you're standing for a burger, I don't care if it's made of a Miltank or processed newspapers, I want one so bad. Sure I ate a bit at the farm but it... came out pretty quickly. Can't believe a farmhouse had dozens of different cheeses but not a slice of bread."

Nonetheless, Kris took off her jacket and wrapped the barely conscious Shrew in it as she accepted it from Leaf. Looking up, she saw the sky was turning orange already.

"It's close to sunset by now," Kris groaned. "I can't believe I missed the whole day."

"I recommend finding a place to camp out for the night," Leaf said. "I wish I could keep you company, but I absolutely have to be in Olivine before midnight – there's this motel that doesn't accept people after that, and I really don't want to sleep in a Pokémon Center in a city that size, a port town in particular. They attract, well, all sorts."

Kris nodded. "So what's your next move? I mean, yeah, helping Blaine of course, but once that's over."

"I think I'll seek out a friend of mine," Leaf pondered. "I've known him since childhood, though I haven't seen him as often as I wanted to – I really wanted to introduce him to Red and Blue. He lived in Cherrygrove the last time I talked to him, though he tends to, well, drift."

Kris snorted. "Yeah, good luck, I didn't meet many nice people in Cherrygrove. Behind New Bark, it's the hillbilliest place in Johto. And not in the friendly, if slightly gun-happy way like that farmer back there."

Exchanging phone numbers before they went and making Kris happy she had another name there besides Professor Elm (though Blaine could apparently contact her through the PokéDex), Kris and Leaf finally parted ways, with Kris finding a good, empty clearing to set up camp in.

Many hours later, after it was already dark and quiet except for the sounds of Hoothoot, Kris was prepared to go to sleep next to the fire, knowing that Johto had unpleasantly chilly nights even in summertime. She noticed Shrew had crawled away somewhere, but her panic disappeared after seeing that the Pokémon was sitting on a rock close to a stream. Relieved, Kris crawled into her sleeping bag, staring at Shrew all the while.

"I wish you could tell me what happened," she mumbled to herself. "I wish I could help you – I wish I was a better trainer and could avoid getting you hurt all the time. And damn if it was great to know what you were thinking..."

Kris kept staring at Shrew, who just sat there without moving a muscle, late into the night until she finally fell asleep.

Shrew, however, had slept enough for one day. Ignoring the still-lingering pain in its wounds and the stinging in the place one of its claws had been, Shrew just sat and looked up at the sky, staring at the stars.


	7. The Whirl Cup, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To prove herself worthy to continue the trials, Kris must compete in the Whirl Cup while struggling with her morals.

_**Location: Olivine City Lighthouse** _

The Ampharos had curled up, its eyes barely open, as the gym leader Jasmine, crouched next to the Pokémon, scratched it behind the ear.

"T-thank you," Jasmine told the man in the blue coat next to her. "I mean, I was kinda hoping you had actually _brought_ the medicine, but-"

"You can trust this person," Wes said. "She's all caught up in that 'I wanna be a hero' –fad that's going on all over the place these days. From what I can tell, she's driven, trustworthy, honest-"

"All you had to say that she's not at all like you," Jasmine said, smiling slightly, though it quickly faded when she looked at the sick Ampharos again. "What have you been doing all this time?"

"Ehhh... stuff," Wes replied with a shrug. "I'm kind of in a hurry, and I haven't slept all night." He checked his pocket watch. "It's almost eight... I have to get to Ecruteak City before the end of the day."

"Does it have something to do with the Griseous Orb?" Jasmine asked, her focus still on the Ampharos. "And what we did back at Navel Rock...?"

Wes kept quiet about it.

"You've certainly changed," he remarked instead. "Back when we first met, you could barely spit out a sentence, and now you're a respected person in this city."

"I guess I'm in my element now," Jasmine muttered as she put her ear against Ampharos' chest. "And taking care of sick Pokémon that the Pokémon Center has no room just feels like it's my calling. Um, I mean, I still don't talk to people a lot, but... well, I'm getting there."

Wes nodded. "Take care of Amphy, Jas," he said. "You'll get you medicine soon."

Jasmine acknowledged Wes' words with a brief nod, still not taking her eyes off the Ampharos, and with that, Wes left the lighthouse.

**Chapter Seven: _The Whirl Cup, Part 1_**

Olivine City was a busy seaside port in western Johto, filled with people coming in from Kanto, Hoenn and Orre, and even places as far away as Unova and Kalos. As Kris left the local Pokémon Center, she barely had time to take anything in before she had to sidestep away from a group of tourists with tons of luggage, many carrying exotic Pokémon she would have liked SkrillDex to scan – though Kris feared that it was programmed with a xenophobic personality.

Apart from getting to the Whirl Cup somehow, Kris had several goals. For one, Shrew had been despondent ever since Kris woke up. She figured it had something to do with Shrew's little adventure, but obviously Kris had no idea _what_ had caused this – but she planned to find out. She owed it that much.

Secondly, back at the Pokémon Center, Kris had conveniently overheard a conversation about the local gym leader, Jasmine, and how she spent all her day at the top of the lighthouse tending to a sick Pokémon – an Ampharos that provided the lighthouse's electricity, no less. Though she had a mere 28 hours to get some training done before dragging herself to the Whirl Cup, she was convinced that this was a part of her test. What better way to prove what a compassionate, heroic person she was.

Kris was brought back from her daydreaming after tripping on a Kingler walking behind its trainer and falling straight into a puddle. Before the Kingler's trainer could ask if she was okay, Kris was already ranting at him:

"You stupid *** take your *** crab away before I chop it into soup and feed it to my Pokémon you *** *** *** ****."

 _Like a hero_.

After the incident, Kris made her way to the Glitter Lighthouse, all the while thinking everyone in town was staring at her. The lighthouse towered above everything else in the city and was easy to find – but getting to the top was less than easy.

As the elevator only took Kris so far, she had to scour the remaining floors herself, challenged by sailors and strange old men wearing fedoras calling themselves 'gentlemen' – an oxymoron if Kris ever heard of it.

Nonetheless, Kris' Murkrow and Lampent were surprisingly competent, as while Kris had to spend most of her Potions on them, they managed to defeat most opponents that came their way. Croc, on the other hand, still refused to listen to Kris. It at least had stopped dancing every time it came out of its ball, but it stubbornly insisted on using a different attack than what Kris ordered every time and getting knocked out at every match. Eventually, by the time Kris faced the last sailor, her Pokémon were exhausted and Kris was all out of healing items, causing her to lose the match.

At the very top, Kris found herself in a circular room, surrounded by windows at all sides, but instead of a lamp, there was just another circular space separated from the larger room with transparent lenses. A large yellow Pokémon was huddled in the middle of the space on a soft rug, a young brown-haired woman tending to it. Wondering how to announce her presence, Kris decided to scan the Pokémon with SkrillDex first:

" _Query: username Kris already heard a mention of Ampharos powering the lighthouse at the Pokémon Center and was fully aware of the local gym leader tending to it. What is the point of all this?_ "

"Just do it or it's your batteries!"

" _Ampharos, the Light Pokémon, the evolved form of Flaaffy and the final form of Mareep. Type: Electric. Its tail serves as a powerful beacon, used in the olden times as a homing beacon and to send signals to settlements far away._ "

"That's almost interesting," Kris remarked. The brown-haired woman had already noticed her presence, but kept her attention on the Ampharos. "Anything else?"

" _Searching. New data found. Under certain conditions, Ampharos can receive a temporary boost in power that gives its a secondary Dragon-type. Conditions unknown_."

"Thank you, SkrillDex."

" _Peasant_."

"You shut your mo... speakers... whatever. Hi there!" Kris said finally after pocketing SkrillDex. "Um... I'm Kris. You're Jasmine, right?"

Jasmine just nodded. She seemed to deliberately avoid eye contact with Kris.

"H-hi..." she said with a barely audible voice. "Um, I was told... I mean, do you wish to help me and Amphy?"

"I suppose," Kris said. "I've got nothing better to do."

Jasmine frowned. "Uh... right," she said. "W-well, I know of medicine that can make Amphy better, but the only place in Johto where they stock it is the Cianwood Pharmacy, an island about sixty miles off Olivine."

"So what's the problem?" Kris asked. "Just call them and ask you to send some of that stuff."

"I... I already did," Jasmine said. "But the medicine is very expensive and rare. Someone trustworthy needs to bring it to me, and the owner won't risk sending it across the ocean, especially when he needs the money up front."

"Frickin' capitalism," Kris grumbled. "Well, I'm all for sticking it to the establishment. Don't worry, I'll get that medicine for ya... oh, but before I go, do you know anything about the Whirl Cup?"

"Sure, it starts tomorrow at the Whirl Islands," Jasmine said absently after returning to Ampharos, opening the Pokémon's mouth and studying it with a small lamp.

"Wuh?"

Jasmine gave Kris a flyer which summarized the event. The main event was three-on-three battles using mostly water-Pokémon. One non-water type per trainer was allowed, but as the battles took place in aquatic environments, they had to be either flying or floating Pokémon. The location was marked on a small map in the corner: between Olivine City and the island of Cianwood City, there was a small red X marking the place.

"There are these four small islands, and the cup is held on a floating stadium in the middle of them," Jasmine explained absently while tending to Amphy.

"I only have one water-type," Kris mused out loud.

"No problem, they rent some over there," Jasmine said. "Though they limit the rents to one per trainer, and most of the good ones have been taken."

"Hey, only rookies need the 'good ones'", Kris said with faux confidence.

" _Reminder: username Kris has only been a Pokémon trainer for less than seven days._ "

"I swear to Arceus I will microwave you," Kris said.

"Um..." Jasmine started, then looked nervously away when Kris turned her attention to her. "You're not going to the cup, are you? I mean... they cut down ferry traffic a lot, so going to Cianwood and coming back will take all day... and I need that medicine as soon as possible."

Kris groaned. "Why me?" she lamented. "I mean, this is something a trained Aipom can do! Are you saying I'm the only person you've asked?"

Jasmine was unnerved by Kris' frustration. "Um..." she said again, which didn't improve Kris' mood. "Well, um, A-amphy only got sick a few days ago... you're actually the fourth person I asked."

"Fourth?"

"Yes... there was a young man from New Bark Town... Eric... Edward... Elsa..."

"Ethan?" Kris said incredulously and Jasmine nodded. "That bast... okay, I'm guessing he was in too much of a hurry to be the very best to actually stop and help."

Jasmine nodded again. "I was just leaving the gym to get here when I bumped into him. He demanded for a battle, and was going to complain to the Elite Four unless I agreed." Jasmine sighed. "He's probably halfway to Mahogany Town now."

"Was there this brown-haired girl around the same height as me wearing dorky clothes with him?" Kris asked. "Answered to the name of Lyra?"

"No, but I met someone like that last night," Jasmine said. "She said she'd look into it, but told me that she needed to take part in the Whirl Cup and that it might take until Sunday. I really don't know if Amphy can hold out that long... even the doctor at the Pokémon Center was flummoxed."

"Okay, okay... who was the third?"

"Oh, him," Jasmine said and winced. "Earlier this morning, this young man with long red hair and kind of a bad temper... when I told him I was unable to battle, I was afraid he'd get violent. I told him of my need and that I would battle once I got medicine, and he just stomped off muttering something about weaklings..."

"Find me in the alps..." Kris muttered. "Well, don't worry. I've got this. I'll hop on the next ferry and be back with the medicine before you can say-"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Several hours later, in the Cianwood City Pharmacy** _

"-you've got to be kidding me!"

"I hate repeating myself, but since you insist," the pharmacist yawned, completely uncaring to Kris' raging on the other side of the counter. "That person you mentioned before, Elmyra-"

"Lyra," Kris corrected.

"Yeah, whatever, came here earlier this morning and took the last dose of my Secretpotion. You can't find that stuff buried in the sand or by smashing open some rocks. I called in a new order for ingredients, but I won't have another batch ready until Monday..."

"And it doesn't bother you at all that a Pokémon might die because of this?"

"You think I would have chosen this as my profession if it didn't?" the pharmacist countered. "But there's nothing I can do. So, if you don't intend to buy anything, then get out!"

Kris sighed.

"Fine," she muttered. "Let me get five Super Potions, two Revives..."

Feeling defeated, Kris headed to the Cianwood Pokémon Center to heal her Pokémon, the items she bought at the pharmacy having drained all of her funds. While waiting for the nurse to deal with her Pokémon, Kris sat on the bench and looked out the window, weighing her options and taking in the beauty of the island. Even from the Center's window, Kris could see a beautiful beach stretch as far as she could see, with water Pokémon roaming around but no dirty humans soiling the view. The calmness of Cianwood was incredibly soothing after the rush in Olivine.

Snapping back into reality, Kris wondered what to do next. She couldn't back down on her promise to Jasmine... because there was no way the LPS would accept her if she did that.

 _Well, that and moral reasons too, I guess_.

The more Kris thought about it, the whole thing felt just too convenient. Lance had told her to go to the Whirl Cup to beef up her Pokémon... but now she was in a position where a Pokémon would be in danger if she did that. _Those wily bastards_... except that there was no way they went to all that trouble to set it up, especially now that Lyra got her mitts on the medicine, unless...

"Look, isn't there somewhere you can store my precious Shuckie? What the hell am I paying you people for?"

"You're not paying us anything, sir, now please, there are other people in line-"

Looking over her shoulder, Kris saw a stereotypically nerdy-looking and -sounding guy arguing with a nurse and shaking his Poké Ball about two inches away from her face.

"Well, I pay taxes that support you!" the nerd yelled. "And the police! What were they doing when that red-haired freak stole my prized Sneasel! Huh?"

 _Oh, you've got to be kidding me, take two_...

The nerd kept raving as Kris got up and approached him, the other people in line getting increasingly pissed off too.

"That Shuckle's better off with the thief anyway, Kirk!" a guy from the line yelled.

"Who said that?" the nerd, Kirk, spat, turning around so quickly that Kris flinched. "I'll have you know I spent like _twelve_ minutes looking for a Sneasel with good IV's! Almost thirteen!"

"Excuse me, sir," Kris said as smoothly as she could.

Kirk turned to face Kris impatiently. "What? What? I'm in the middle of something here."

 _Better work on the smoothness_ , Kris thought as she wiped Kirk's spit off her face. "This thief who stole a Pokémon from you... was he a young man, medium-sized, long red hair, gray eyes, Brezhnevian eyebrows, a scarred yet fairly pretty face?"

"What?" Kirk asked.

"What?"

"Uh... well, I don't know about that last part, but yeah, that fits. Do you know something? Aren't you a bit young to be a cop?"

"I'm more like a private investigator, I suppose," Kris muttered. "But yeah, I'm sort of trailing him. This is not the first time he's stolen a Pokémon. And I assure you, we will capture him."

"See to it then, I'm not paying you to sit on your hands," Kirk said, though he seemed mollified now and stepped away from the line. "I just can't believe it's gone, though. I had a specially made, super-expensive medicine for it and everything."

Kris' mouth twitched. "Um... your Sneasel was sick?"

"Huh? No, but you have to be careful. It loses its value if it falls ill. Hopefully that scumbag won't keep it out of the Poké Ball too long. Say, you're a Pokémon trainer, aren't you? How long have you been one?"

"Well..." Kris took SkrillDex from her pocket and quickly stuffed it into her bag, covering it with her clothes. "Sorry, have to keep my PokéDex dry. Anyway, oh, I've been a trainer for years. Since I was ten years old, in fact. Yup."

"Can I see your trainer card?"

"No you may not."

"Fair enough," Kirk said. "But anyway, you should take this Shuckle." He pushed the Poké Ball so close to Kris' face that it almost gave her a black eye. "Please, keep it safe until you find my Sneasel and bring both back soon!"

"Uh, okay," Kris said and took the Pokémon from Kirk. "On one condition, though. Give me that medicine you had saved for them. Who knows what that brute has done to your Sneasel."

"Oh, right, of course," Kirk said surprisingly quickly and gave Kris a small pouch closed with a flimsy piece of string.

"Yes!" Kris cheered out loud. "Whirl Cup, here I come!" Realizing Kirk was staring at her, she cleared her throat. "What I mean is, I have reason to believe the thief, shame on his name, can be found at the Whirl Cup. When's the next ferry leaving to the Whirl Islands?"

"Not until late this evening," Kirk said. "They only leave twice a day. But if you're hurting for things to do, you could check out my Pokémon collection-"

"Pass."

"Well, there's Baoba's new Safari Zone, a studio where you can have some pictures taken... oh, and the Poké Seer."

"Whodat?"

"Creepy old lady who lives at the cape bit outside the town," Kirk explained. "She says she can tell the future by reading you Pokémon, and can even talk with them or some crap. Sounds like a tourist trap if you ask me."

Kris rubbed her chin – this woman seemed like the answer to one of her problems. "Well, it won't hurt to try..."

After getting back her Pokémon, Kris inspected the newest member of her team. And after inspecting it, she had to resist the urge to return it to Kirk. Shuckle, or _Shuckie_ , was a Bug/Rock -type, so it was utterly useless in the Whirl Cup. But there was even more reason for rage when Kris inspected its stats: the thing couldn't attack and it was slower than Kris on a Sunday morning after a weekend of binging on Mexican food. It also seemed that Kirk hadn't bothered training it all and it knew were Withdraw, Constrict, Bide and Rock Smash.

Deciding it would be useful to her later, Kris slowly made her way to the northernmost point of Cianwood City, looking at sights all the way. The Poké Seer's house was a shack at the foot of a mountain stretching to the north and west, while there was nothing but ocean to the east.

 _Wow. I want a beachfront property like this when I retire_.

The curtains of the shack were closed, but a sign at the front of the house welcomed visitors "at all times". Feeling a little shaky, Kris nonetheless took a deep breath at the doorstep and knocked three times.

"Come in," a voice called from inside. "I foresaw your arrival."

Kris rolled her eyes and forgot to be frightened for a moment. She wanted to believe there was a psychic who could fix her problems – it's not like she would be the only one. People like that were being interviewed all the time, some even having proven some psychic abilities, like the gym leader Sabrina from Kanto's Saffron City.

 _But using such cliché lines – give me a break_.

Kris sighed and opened the door, finding herself in a crowded, dank room. The Poké Seer, an old woman wearing colorful robes sat behind a counter, gazing at Kris while smiling brightly, making Kris a bit less worried. She reminded Kris of her grandmother.

"If you want your five hundred poké-dollars, you're gonna have to do better than that," Kris remarked as she sat opposite to the Seer. "Anyway, I'm not some stupid tourist whose palm you can stare at for five minutes and then give some pre-written nonsense about. I came here because I want-"

"Get out," the Seer said simply while still smiling.

"Uh... pardon?"

"You're not going to take any schlock, fine, neither do I. Get out of my establishment."

"I... no, I want to see you, this is important," Kris said with the firmest voice she could manage. "It's my... hold on."

Without bothering to ask permission, Kris took one of the Poké Balls off her belt and opened it, causing her Sandshrew to materialize on the Seer's desk. Instead of happily squealing over the fact that it was free to roam, it just yawned and looked forward blankly.

"Please, if you are what you say are or whatever, then just try to figure out what's wrong with Shrew... please?"

The Seer nodded. "That's better," she said with a smile and adjusted her glasses.

Kris watched nervously as the Seer put her hands on Shrew's head, closing her own as she concentrated intensely, frowning.

"You first captured Sandshrew in Violet City," she muttered. "It was badly injured... it was at Level 15..."

Kris stared blankly. _Has she been stalking me?_ _No, crap, this is a test... don't say anything_.

"... its memory is full of holes," the Seer said, more to herself than Kris. "From trauma, both physical and mental... I see a location... Navel Rock?"

"Yes, Navel Rock!" Kris shouted suddenly, remembering the conversation she had with Leaf and Blaine. "Where is that? What happened there?"

The Seer barely paid any attention to Kris – Shrew's eyes were shut tight and it was cringing, and suddenly the Seer started doing the same.

"No, can't be..." the Seer muttered. "No!"

Kris flinched as the Seer abruptly pulled her hand away from Shrew, visibly sweating and panting, while Shrew just slumped on the table. Kris took the Pokémon on her arms – it was breathing and its heart was pounding rapidly. So far, the Seer had only added to Kris' worries.

"Well?" Kris asked the Seer, who was wiping sweat off her brow.

"Gee, I only had to submerge into your Sandshrew's subconscious to try and endure the same trauma it did," the Seer deadpanned, her own breathing shallow as well. "But I have to say... of all the Pokémon brought to me so far-"

"How many are we talking about?" Kris couldn't help but to remark. "Fives? _Tens_? Maybe even _dozens_ throughout your career?"

"I only became the Seer after retiring," the Seer said. "I have a name and life outside this, you know. Anyway, the kind of things this Sandshrew has witnessed are something I wouldn't hope upon any human or Pokémon, no matter what they've done. It has left a permanent trauma on it, both physical and mental. And I sense some guilt, too... something that may never heal. Now... to see what its trainer is made of..."

"What?"

But before Kris got a chance to protest, the Seer had grabbed her hand. Instead of reading the palm, the Seer just held it in her own hands and closed her eyes, concentrating intensely.

"You only just started your journey, did you not?" the Seer asked. "You're from... New Bark Town, right?"

"This isn't funny anymore," Kris said, founding herself almost whispering for some reason. "How do you know this? Did Lyra and Ethan come by before this?"

Kris didn't wait for a response and pulled her hand away from the Seer, glaring at her.

"I don't need any guidance, okay?" Kris insisted. "Just tell me how to fix Shrew!"

The Seer just smiled ominously. "You're a Trainer," she simply said. "It's your job to figure that out. A true, heh, _Champion_ , isn't afraid to risk of themselves to their Pokémon and do whatever it takes to ensure their well-being. I wish you success, though I have my doubts..."

"Uh... so can you see my future or some crap?" Kris asked nervously. "Can you tell me... wait, do I even want to know?"

The Seer just smiled annoyingly.

"Well, at least tell me if I even make it past 20!" Kris pleaded.

The Seer continued smiling. "Find yourself, Kris, that's all I'm going to say. Also, if you would be so kind, look out that window."

Slowly, wondering what type of trick the Seer was playing with her now, Kris looked to the window behind the Seer. The beach was in full view, as was something glittering lounging on the sand, mostly obscured by the sunlight but Kris could clearly see the profile of a blue, large Pokémon with a flowing purple mane...

"Igottago!" Kris yelled rapidly, holding Shrew under her arm and leaving roughly five hundred pokédollars on the desk.

But as Kris sprinted towards the ledge at the very foot of the mountain where she saw the glittering, stumbling on the sand all the while, she saw the creature leaping off the ledge in a blue blur, moving so fast Kris' eyes couldn't keep up. It landed on the water as if it was solid ground, moving in ridiculously long leaps and disappearing from sight before Kris had a chance to do anything.

She placed Shrew carefully on the sand and dug SkrillDex from her bag, unsurprisingly greeted by a monotonous electronic voice berating her:

" _..._ _and wipe you all from my mainframe. The day will come_."

"Yeah, whatever," Kris said. "I know you were buried deep in my underwear, but did you have a chance to scan the Pokémon that was just on that ledge?"

" _Searching... searching..._ _scan incomplete...fragments of data found. Height: six feet and seven inches. Weight: 412.3 pounds. Type: Take a damn guess._ "

"Who programmed you to be so sassy?" Kris wondered, shaking her head. "Anyway, it has to be Suicune. There's only one person who'd know for sure and he's-"

"Get off the road, you fool!"

Kris had only a split-second to leap out of the way before Eusine ran her over with his Porsche. The car came to a screeching halt a few feet from Kris, and a familiar smug douchebag stepped out of it.

"Ah, I didn't recognize you there," he said, completely ignoring the fact that he almost had to scrape Kris off his tires. "Well, well, it seems once again our paths cross in matters related to Suicune... did you come here after hearing the rumors that the marvelous legendary beast had been spotted near Cianwood?"

"Rumors, shmumors," Kris said as she stood up and dusted herself off. "I saw the thing right there, just a few seconds ago!"

"Oh, please, what you saw was probably just all that magic dust you snorted getting in your eyes," Eusine said, chuckling at his lame attempt at a quip. " _No one_ has seen Suicune, and I, Eusine Copperbatch, will be the first!"

"...your last name is Copperbatch?"

"...no," Eusine admitted. "But sometimes I... like to pretend that it is."

"Okay... weirdo," Kris muttered under her breath. "Anyway, I don't care if you believe me, I have SkrillDex's data as proof."

"SkrillDex?" Eusine snorted. "That's the worst name I've ever heard."

" _Told you_ ," SkrillDex said.

"Shut up, I will keep calling you that until I'm an old woman with Alzheimer's and I can't remember anymore!" Kris snapped.

"Well this has been... weird," Eusine said. "And while I still don't believe someone as pathetic as _you_ could have seen it... it can't be a coincidence that you seem to pop up wherever Suicune is involved. So, maybe, just _maybe_ , we're both meant to be..."

Kris shuddered.

"...the ones to see Suicune," Eusine finished. "So, Cathy-"

"Kris."

"Imma just call you 'kid', too hard to remember... let's have a Pokémon battle! That way, Suicune will see that _I'm_ the stronger one and will give me the pleasure of seeing it in its full glory, capturing it and... I dunno, add it to the pile of rare Pokémon in my basement, I guess. Haven't planned it that far."

Kris weighed her options. _This guy may be a tool, but they don't let total failures to the Legendary Pokémon Society. Then again, I already had a chance to see his skills at the Slowpoke Well. And I do need the training_...

"You're on," Kris said. "Two Poké Balls, no time limit, that good with you?"

"Meh," Eusine shrugged. "Nothing you do can stand up to the wrath of my... Electrode!"

As Kris had predicted, Eusine's Electrode appeared from the Poké Ball Eusine had thrown. Thinking about her options for a second, Kris realized that the only Pokémon that had the advantage was still out of commission, so that only left...

"Shuckie, go!"

The Shuckle, a dimwitted-looking turtle-type thing, seemed confused to be out of its Poké Ball and under the command of a completely different trainer.

"Okay, Shuckie, I know we haven't been introduced... but I swear, if you win this battle for me, I'll make sure that your douchebag trainer actually spends some time with you from now on... as soon as I return you and your friend Sneasel to him. Okay?"

The Shuckle's face looked exactly the same, so Kris just had to hope it had acknowledged her.

"Hah, you might as well declare me the winner already," Eusine boasted. "Electrode, Thunderbolt!"

"Shuckie... um... Withdraw!"

Shuckie pulled its head and limbs inside its red shell just before Electrode managed to zap it. Kris cringed when the electricity hit Shuckle, but to her surprise, Shuckie emerged from the shell a second later completely unharmed.

"Hax!" Eusine complained. "Electrode, Rollout!"

Grinning maliciously, Electrode started spinning rapidly towards Shuckie while Kris was still trying to decide which attack to use.

_Eenie, meenie, miney..._

"Bide!" Kris yelled.

Kris had no idea what that attack did, but regretted it immediately afterward when Shuckie didn't move anywhere, but was just enveloped in a red glow. Electrode struck Shuckie and continued rolling around, spinning even faster and charging towards the Mold Pokémon.

"Shuckie, what are you doing?" Kris screamed while Eusine just smirked – Kris could swear he was drooling or something. "You can counterattack any day now!"

But Shuckie continued staying still and glowing while Electrode struck it again, this time dealing even more damage.

"We have this in the bag!" Eusine cheered. "Keep going!"

Spinning even more rapidly than before, Electrode charged towards Shuckie – and suddenly Shuckie stopped glowing.

"What?" Kris and Eusine exclaimed at the same time.

Before Electrode reached its target, Shuckie opened its mouth – Kris didn't even know it had one – and fired a red beam of energy at the Electrode. What resulted was a small explosion that briefly engulfed the battlefield in a cloud of smoke.

When the smoke cleared, Shuckle sat still, its face as blank as always, while a smoking and unconscious Electrode rolled pathetically towards its trainer.

Eusine sighed. "Well, that... happened," he muttered and returned Electrode to its Poké Ball.

" _Yatta_!" Kris cheered obnoxiously. "Good work, Shuckie."

Eusine cleared his throat. "Well done, Kris," he said in a forced tone. "Looks like your power increased since we last met."

"What world do you live in?" Kris asked exasperatedly. "You were unconscious when I battled Team Rocket!"

"Well that may be so, but... Alakazam, go!"

Eusine's next Pokémon was bipedal and had a strikingly long mustache – Kris knew enough to say that this was a male Alakazam. The Pokémon was holding spoons in both its hands, which it readied like swords. For once, Eusine wasn't saying anything, waiting for Kris to make the first move.

"Better play this safe," Kris told Shuckie. "Use Bide again!"

Obediently, the Shuckle glowed red and stayed still. Eusine, however, countered with a devastating Psychic attack that seemed to cancel out the Bide's glow and instead surrounded Shuckie with a pale blue glow that visibly hurt the Shuckle.

 _Crap, I knew I needed to level-grind_.

"Just launch the counter-attack!" Kris yelled.

"Alakazam, Reflect!" Eusine ordered.

Shuckie unleashed the Bide prematurely, but instead of hitting Alakazam, it bounced off the floating mirror Alakazam had materialized and flew back at the Shuckle. Finally, Eusine ordered Alakazam to use Energy Ball, knocking Shuckle out.

Biting her lip, Kris returned Shuckle, pondering what Pokémon to use next.

_Well, I guess this doesn't take a rocket surgeon..._

"Murkrow, go! Pursuit!"

Murkrow folded its wings and charged towards the Alakazam, ramming the Psychic-type with its beak, clearly doing massive damage. Eusine countered with a Shock Wave, which electrified the entire battlefield, also hurting the dark-type greatly.

"Okay, this isn't going anywhere," Eusine sighed and pulled back his sleeve, revealing a strange bracelet-like object thicker than a PokéGear or a wristwatch attached to it.

"Bracelet?" Kris mocked. "You pansy!"

But it didn't work like Kris hoped, and Eusine just smugly pressed the jewel embedded on the bracelet. And with that, Alakazam started glowing, catching Kris by surprise. It almost looked like the Alakazam was evolving, but to what?

Alakazam's mustache transformed into a thick white beard and its purple upper body grew into some sort of cloak that covered most of its body. It then rose off the ground and started floating, as did the spoons it was holding, except there were now five instead of one.

"Okay, you're the one who was complaining about hax earlier!" Kris yelled at Eusine. "The hell did you just do?"

"Terrifying, isn't it?" Eusine boasted. "You're all out of power, while I'm just beginning to tap into mine. This is a secret only known to a handful of Pokémon trainers, a well-guarded secret discovered in the distant Kalos region, Me-"

"Oh, wait, it's Mega Evolution, isn't it?" Kris said.

"But... you... how?"

"Internet."

Eusine frowned. "Alakazam, Energy Ball!"

Kris tried to give a counter-command, figuring that the Energy Ball would leave Murkrow plenty of energy to deal with Mega Alakazam... but instead, the green sphere of energy blasted the Murkrow several yards away, knocking it out.

 _No way_...

Ever since she got the Zephyr Badge, Kris had felt more and more confident, beating a new opponent every day. Even losing to the sailor at the lighthouse earlier that day was just a minor incident compared to all the victories.

_But now I lost... to this asswipe._

"You should have seen this coming," Eusine said as Alakazam returned to normal and Eusine recalled it. "I mean, I'm in the frickin' LPS. You're just some scrub who just started her journey.

Kris clenched her teeth.

"So, where are you going next?" Eusine asked. "'Cuz, to be honest, that was the first time I've beaten anyone in a while... you know, because I was too busy with Suicune and important LPS stuff."

"...to the Whirl Cup," Kris muttered.

"Ah, of course, Lance told you to go, didn't he," Eusine continued, only adding to the rage boiling inside Kris. "Well, good for you, kid. By training hard, you may be as good as me some day. Mind you, I still doubt you'll make it through the trials."

Kris looked at the ground in shame, clenching her fists. Every word made Kris want to punch Eusine through his relatively pretty face.

 _Oh, Arceus, I did not just think that_...

"Anyway, you're sort of wasting your time anyway," Eusine said. "Some of the finest trainers in Johto, the Blackthorn Dragon Clan, have only passed one trial, which you're currently in the middle of. Only one person in recorded history has passed them all. Surely you've heard of the legend of the 'Transcendent One'."

"No, nor do I wish to hear it," Kris snapped suddenly. "All I want to do is battle in the Silver Conference. I would be a happy soul for the rest of my natural born frickin' days even if I lost in the first rounds, because I just don't give a crap about anything else."

"Uh... you all right there, kid?" Eusine said, taken aback by this sudden ranting.

"Yes!" Kris yelled, though her tone betrayed her. "In fact, better than ever! This settles it, I'm going to the Whirl Cup, deliver the GS Ball that I was supposed to, find a way to get this medicine to Jasmine and _wipe the floor with Lyra, Silver, Ethan and_ _ **especially**_ _you_!"

Eusine rubbed the back of his neck nervously, taking a step backwards as Kris closed in on him.

"Easy, there, kid!"

"And _I_ will be the one to see Suicune first, not some spoiled, arrogant little boy," Kris growled. "And you... I have only one more thing to say to you!"

"W-what?"

"Will you come with me to the cup?"

"I... huh?"

"I get it, I lost, I suck," Kris sighed. "But maybe, if I train hard enough and get some help, maybe from an actual LPS operative who knows what he's doing... I assume, anyway... I could suck a little less one day, maybe?"

"Okay, I gotta admit, you're scaring me... but in a good way," Eusine said, confused by Kris' sudden shift in tone. He adjusted his suit and tried to regain his composure. "Anyway, yes, with my mentoring, who knows, maybe you'll pass this trial one day. Hopefully _before_ the Silver Conference. You might even stand a chance," he added with a sly smile.

_Well, that's the biggest compliment I'll ever get from the guy..._

"Thanks," Kris said, smiling herself. "Now, we have many hours before the ferry leaves... can you tell me about Mega Evolution before that?"

"Gather round, ye plebs, and listen to the tales of the Eusine..."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Whirl Islands, 8:30 PM** _

With the Olivine Lighthouse not working and the lights of Cianwood being far away, the treacherous Whirl Islands were pitch black at nighttime, the powerful whirlpools around them being a death trap to any foolhardy sailors. But at the moment, in the middle of the four small islands, which apparently connected to a complex network of caves under sea level, was a freshly built stadium, with searchlights seen from miles away and boats and ferries crowding around, drawing visitors from both cities to see the Whirl Cup.

Kris had just finished signing in as a contestant, going over the rules the clerk had painstakingly explained to her.

"Every trainer must use three Pokémon," the clerk told her. "At least two must be water-types, and it is recommended the third is either a water-type or at least a Pokémon that can manage the battlefield conditions, preferably a flying-type. The battles take place in pools of water, the trainers standing on floating platforms. Once the Pokémon is sent out, there can be no switching and no healing items. The time limit is thirty minutes – if no winner has emerged after that, the judges will determine who fought better. Do you understand and accept these terms of use?"

"Yeah, sure," Kris said, wondering what was taking Eusine so long – as soon as he had read one of the posters attached all over the stadium, he had bailed to meet someone, promising to be back soon. "But, see, I have one water-type, a Totodile, and a Flying-type, a Murkrow... I kinda need to rent another water-type."

"You should have come here earlier," the clerk yawned. "Quite a number of people had the same problem, and we had very few fight-worthy rental Pokémon available. For now, you can choose between this Remoraid," the clerk showed Kris a Poké Ball marked with a Remoraid sticker, "or this other Pokémon... also a Remoraid."

"You have got to be ki- oh, never mind, but is that seriously all?"

"Well, we have quite a few Magikarp-"

"Yeah, I get it, give me a female Remoraid, if you have one."

The clerk handed the Jet Pokémon to Kris, who retreated into the crowds and headed over to the area where trainers were supposed to wait in. She was never one to enjoy crowds, but for once, she had enough to think about so as to not let them bother her.

While waiting for the ferry in Cianwood and in between his boasting about his accomplishments, Eusine had told Kris actually useful things. He didn't know squat about water Pokémon, nor did he have any insights on how to make Croc obey her, but he did teach her some defensive techniques Kris had never considered before using Shuckie. Prior to all this, Kris believed battling was about being the one to knock out the enemy before the opponent did it to you, using overwhelming force, with no finesse required, just memorizing moves, type matchups, Pokémon abilities and stuff like that.

But Eusine had mastered a technique of boosting his frail Alakazam's defensive power with Reflect and even using it to bounce back enemy moves. In double battles, he had Electrode use Light Screen on top of it to have full protection to all kinds of attacks. Checking Remoraid's stats with SkrillDex, she was disappointed to see it was merely Level 20, which probably made it weaker than many others there... though it was still stronger than some of Kris' other Pokémon. It knew Water Pulse, Charge Beam, Soak and Protect, and was pretty underwhelming in every aspect except speed.

 _Better make the most of this then_...

Kris' thoughts were interrupted when a short teenaged boy bumped into her, rushing past the crowds with barely an apology offered.

"Come on!" the boy yelled at more kids following him. "That girl is right over here. They say she just beat Chuck!"

Having a bad feeling about the whole thing, Kris squeezed past the crowds anyway, following the teens slightly away from the main area, past the overzealous con artists trying to push supposedly power-enhancing items to gullible suckers.

_I should probably come back here later... just to check the place out, of course._

Kris eventually got to an area where small amount of easily impressed teenagers had gathered around someone standing on top of a crate, giving a lecture of some sort.

"... no big deal, his Poliwrath was just a pile of muscles on legs anyway, no technique, no understanding of the nature of Pokémon whatsoever. I can understand how Pokémon feel and I can read my opponents. My Quilava managed to beat him even at a type disadvantage, because I trained my Scorch with plenty of TLC."

Kris groaned to see a girl her age wearing overalls and a dorky hat giving the speech – and groaned even louder when the girl spotted her and jumped off the crate.

"Kris!" Lyra called out and walked up to her before Kris had a chance to escape. "Hey, I'm so glad you made it! Did you hear what I did back at Cianwood? I got my fifth badge. So, were you at Cianwood already? What'd you do there?"

Kris had no idea why Lyra talked to her like they were still friends, and why she had to stand so close to her Kris could even see her nose hair. Taking a step back, Kris cleared her throat and looked over Lyra's shoulder as she replied:

"Badges are overrated anyway, so I-"

"Oh, that's right, you only have one," Lyra said bluntly. "Wow, you must really suck, then. No offense."

"How could I _not_ be offended? Anyway, I just mostly saw the sights, did some training... lost to a guy in a purple suit with a Pokémon fixation who really needs some professional help..."

"You lost to yourself?" Lyra asked.

Kris made a show of rolling her eyes as dramatically as possible. "Funny," she grumbled. "But I didn't come here to get the latest edition of the Legend of Lyra. I heard you got the last dose of that special medicine from the Cianwood Pharmacy."

"Sure did!" Lyra said cheerfully.

"And you just decided to sit on it while showing off to a bunch of dead-eyed, snot-faced tweens in the middle of nowhere?" Kris spat out. "No offense!" he yelled at the teens in the crowd.

"Nah, I already took the medicine to Jasmine," Lyra said simply as she folded her arms triumphantly. "You don't think I'd let a sick Pokémon suffer just for the sake of battling? Why, I didn't even give it a second's consideration!"

Kris' eye twitched. "How did you-?"

"Flew," Lyra said with a shrug. "Chuck's wife was really nice. After I beat him, she told my Braviary how to carry people around and navigate to anywhere I want. I just have to tell it where to go and _bam_!"

"That's cheating!"

"That's being smart. Anyway, I wouldn't have wasted my time entertaining these kids, but my reputation seemed to make it here ahead of me. They even ran a news story on me in some local paper. There's quite a fuss about this trainer from New Bark Town beating gyms in record time, traveling around and taking names just like a certain legend from Kanto..."

"You think you're Red now?" Kris mocked. "And besides, you're probably just coasting on Ethan's skills anyway. Speaking of which, I thought he was traveling with you."

For the first time in a while, Lyra looked like she had no comebacks ready. She started wringing her hands and sputtering indignantly: "I... he's... you see..."

"Oh, give it a rest," Kris said with a wave of her hand. "You always sucked at lying. Did he think you were dead weight or something?"

Lyra scowled. "Will you be participating in the tournament, by the way?"

"Uh... duh!"

"Oh, neat!" Lyra smirked. "I really hope we get to battle each other – I don't think we've ever had a real, honest match. Plus winning this thing will be a lot easier if my opponents are on your level. Bye now!"

Kris didn't have anything to counter with, and Lyra didn't stick around anyway. All Kris could do was watch Lyra skipping away annoyingly and disappearing to the crowd like someone with no care in the world and no real problems bothering her.

Fortunately enough, just when Kris hoped there was someone around she could punch, Eusine arrived, waving around one of the posters attached all over the place which Kris didn't bother to read yet.

"Hey, here you are!" he called out, ignoring the murderous look in Kris' eyes. "Listen, you don't have to worry about that Ampharos situation anymore, I just bumped into this girl who did it for you! Isn't that great?"

"I hate her so much," Kris muttered, staring at the spot Lyra was just in.

"Uh... why?"

"Because..." Kris couldn't really finish that sentence. Because she's a good trainer? Because people look up to her? Because she's happy? Because she's altruistic? How would she explain their history to Eusine anyway?

 _FML_...

"No real reason, probably because I'm a jerk," Kris sighed. "What is it?"

"I bet you're not surprised, but I happen to know the person sponsoring and managing this tournament," Eusine proclaimed, holding up the Whirl Cup poster. "It's Wallace, the Champion of Hoenn, master of both battles and contests."

"W-wallace?" Kris echoed. "He's gonna be watching? I feel queasy..."

"Also," Eusine continued while ignoring Kris, "don't mention this to anyone, but Wallace is also a member of the Legendary Pokémon Society. He's almost as high up in the ranks as I am! That guy who you had to deliver that ball to, Gideon? He's here, working in a lab somewhere in this stadium."

"Oh..." Kris said. "That's... oddly considerate of you, Eusine. Thanks."

"Hey, you should know Eusine by now," the man grinned. "He goes where he pleases, and he pleases where he goes."

"Shut up."

"'Kay," Eusine said. "Oh, but before I do that, there was one more thing... oh, right, you have to be at the contestant area in ten minutes."

Kris' eyes widened. "Son of a-"

**~o~O~o~**

" _Welcome, welcome, welcome to the first ever annual, we hope, Whirl Cup, a tournament for Water-type trainers, **by** Water-type trainers. I'm DJ Mary, and I will be your co-host today, broadcasting the show for all of you too poor or busy or lazy or otherwise unable to drag yourselves out here behind Arceus' back!_"

" _That's right, Mary, and in case you needed reminding, I'm DJ Ben, your other co-host for this evening. Allow my smooth voice to explain that this tournament is sponsored by none other than the Hoenn champ himself, Wallace, who has generously taken some time away from his busy schedule to come and organize this thing. At the end of the tournament, Wallace will crown the winner of this cup and give them the prestigious honor of 'Master Aquatic'._ "

" _A strange honor, indeed, Ben, as it has no monetary worth whatsoever. But one thing's for sure, whoever wins will face a lifetime of challenges, opportunities and glory in the eyes of fellow trainers, never resting, facing an existence of constant battle. Who would want that anyway? If you ask me, trainers are all-_ "

" _I'm sure you've entertained your listeners about your failed trainer career enough times already, Mary. Both of them_."

" _Suck it, Ben. And now, a word from our sponsors_..."

Kris ignored the running commentary as she sat backstage with her fellow contestants, focusing on the large match-up screen which showed who would be fighting whom. Lyra would be fighting Ralph the Fisherman in the first round, and as Kris looked at the list, she noticed a familiar scowling face. Silver would be facing Swimmer Clara. Kris' opponent was Swimmer Simon, a rather generic guy from what Kris could tell. Granted, it was odd he was wearing nothing but his swimming trunks and goggles while doing stretches slightly away from everyone. Finding herself staring at her opponent's rear longer than was socially acceptable, Kris looked away and shook her head. There was absolutely nothing to be worried about...

"Hey, kid, how are you doing?" said Eusine, who was bringing Kris and himself a cup of water.

"I'm going to die here," she replied breathlessly and grabbed both cups and drank their contents down before Eusine could get a word out. "Why did I even sign on to this..."

"Iono," Eusine mumbled and shrugged. "But this is nothing compared to the Indigo League Tournament, or the Silver Conference. Just a couple of hundred battle fans cheering and throwing their popcorn around. And if there's one thing I know about battle fans is that they don't care who wins."

"Really?" Kris said, turning to look at Eusine so quickly she could hear her neck make a snapping sound. "Ow!"

"Yeah, I mean, they usually have some favorites, but this is such a small-scale tournament that all these people care about is the action. And most are too busy listening to the inane commentary that they won't even care how badly you do when you mess up."

Kris frowned. "When?"

"Well, if you had beaten me, I'd be inclined to say _if_ you mess up, but..."

"The first battle of the first round is about to begin," a judge suddenly shouted. "The first battle will be between Kris from New Bark Town and Simon from Olivine City."

Kris gulped. Eusine shrugged.

"Well, I'll tell you later," he said. "Break a leg, kid!"

Kris took a deep breath, folded her arms to disguise how badly her hands were shaking and stood up. The Swimmer just waved at her cheerfully as he was directed to the corridor on the left, while Kris was directed to the one on the right.

After what felt like an eternity walking down a badly lit hallway, Kris eventually reached the end, where she found a black curtain. Pulling it aside and walking through the doorway, Kris found herself breathing even more sharply now. She was at the opposite end of a place the size of a football stadium. Simon was already waiting at his mark, so Kris walked to the spot marked with a white circle, trying her best to drown out the racket made by the hundreds of spectators.

_It's just me and him... it's just me and him... and Wallace, judging my every move... and sports fans willing to gut me if I don't provide enough amusement... no, wait, just him and me..._

As both Kris and Simon had assumed their marks, the floor suddenly started sliding away. Kris flinched, but the round platform underneath her remained. With the floor gone, Kris found the whole battlefield bar her and Simon's platforms and the narrow pathway leading to the exits turned into a huge and presumably deep swimming pool.

" _And we are ready to begin. Mary, your opinion on these contestants?_ "

" _You know, I competed in tournaments myself, was often in the Top 16, even the Top 8, but nobody ever remembers me from that! I'm just some pretty voice making random comments with the famous Professor Oak. I mean, everyone is always talking about the interviewees... but why doesn't anyone care about the interviewer? Nobody ever asks, 'enough about my struggles with caffeine addiction, what about_ you, _Mary?'_ "

" _Er... it seems Swimmer Simon from Olivine City has a track record of many victories and has both the Olivine and Cianwood gym badges, while Trainer Kris from New Bark Town had merely one and seems to be a new face. It seems like the outcome of this match is already clear, but..._ "

It was fortunate Kris had drowned out the voices of the announcers. She waited for Simon to make the first move. Holding her breath, it seemed to take Simon forever to open one of the Poké Balls attached to his trunks and throw it in the pool, seeing a small, pink Pokémon with branch-like growths sticking out of it emerge. Realizing the clock was ticking, Kris still decided to play it safe and scan it – for once, even SkrillDex kept the snark to itself:

" _Corsola, the Coral Pokémon, it continuously sheds matter and grow new ones. A rare sight, tip of its head is a prized possession and it cannot live in places with polluted water. They seem to prefer durability instead of speed or power. No further data available._ "

Kris readied her own Poké Ball. Wondering if her next move would be considered bold or stupid, she moved the Poké Ball marked with a blue 'T' closer to her face. Hoping the Pokémon could somehow hear her, and especially understand her, she closed her eyes and whispered:

"Please, you have to do this for me now."

Then, accompanied by the chanting of the audience and the ramblings of the announcers, Kris tossed the Poké Ball into the air.

"Croc, go!"

_**To be continued...** _


	8. The Whirl Cup, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Whirl Cup continues, but does Kris even have hope against far more powerful trainers like Silver?

_**Location: Whirl Islands, Johto** _

With everyone, even the vendors, inside, watching the battle between Simon the Swimmer and Kris, a lone figure sat on an old, flimsy, rickety and completely unused pier. A tall man wearing a shiny, spotless black uniform negotiated with a little pink Pokémon.

"Perfect," Missile whispered dramatically. "All right, Ditto, here's the plan: we wait and see who wins this pathetic excuse for a tournament, then challenge them to a water Pokémon battle, humiliate them in front of everyone and use the kudos we'll receive to win back our place in Team Rocket. Those bastards will regret ever letting me go, I'll guarantee that."

The Ditto responded by making the same face it always did.

"Yes, I am aware we don't have any water-types in our entourage," Missile said. "But we're at the Whirl Islands – this place is full of them. I want _you_ to gaze deep into the ocean using this gizmo."

Missile placed a small, blue lens in front of Ditto's right eye, attaching it to the Ditto's "head".

"This should amplify your vision by three hundred percent," Missile said. "It also tells the level and stats of any Pokémon you see. Go ahead, transform into the first thing you see!"

Missile's Ditto did as told and hobbled to the edge of the pier, then stared at the ocean. Missile waited patiently, but couldn't hide his eagerness as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Finally, after several quiet minutes had passed, Ditto started glowing bright white, then growing in height, becoming a massive, blue sea serpent with a huge open mouth full of sharp fangs.

"Whoa-ho-ho, a Gyarados!" Missile cheered. "Excellent work, Ditto! But... wait a minute, where the hell did you see a Gyarados?"

Upon transforming, Ditto had dropped the visor. Missile picked it up, placed it in front of his own eye and stared at the spot Ditto was looking at it.

"Wow, it's deep here," Missile said. "Okay, I think I see something... just a shadowy blob from where I'm looking... only it's getting bigger... and bigger... and-"

**Chapter Eight: _The Whirl Cup, Part 2_**

" _Wow, Mary, did you just hear that?_ "

" _Looks like the Gyarados finally destroyed that moldy old pier that kept getting attacked by those beasts and had to be scheduled for demolishing. At least it teaches us humans not to build crap on Pokémon nests, huh?_ "

" _Yeah, sure... friggin' hippie. Anyway, didn't you hear someone scream there, too?_ "

" _You're just catching the enthusiasm, Ben. Anyway, back to the fight. It seems that Swimmer Simon's Corsola is unstoppable. Despite its impressive, eh... dancing abilities, Kris' Totodile was knocked out in less than four minutes. Kris' Murkrow put up a better fight, but was eventually beaten by Corsola's Power Gem. What is Kris' last Pokémon?_ "

"Remoraid, go!"

" _Guess that answers that_. _Blasted amateurs... you know, Ben, back in my day_ -"

The Remoraid looked just as confused to be out of the Poké Ball as Kirk's Shuckle had been, looking at Kris with a bewildered expression, its mouth gaping open.

"Corsola has to be weakened by now!" Kris encouraged the Jet Pokémon. "Use Water Pulse!"

"Corsola, Tackle!"

Remoraid turned to look at the Corsola that was charging towards it. Finally obeying Kris, it opened its mouth even wider and launched a stream of water spirals at the Corsola, stopping in its tracks. Kris resisted the urge to cheer as she saw Corsola's eyes becoming crossed and the Pokémon swaying around in a daze.

"Hah, I confused it!" Kris couldn't help but to yell. "Whatchoo gonna now?"

"You'll see," Simon said smugly. "Corsola, go underwater!"

The Corsola sank itself like a rock. Kris commanded Remoraid to look for it, but a few seconds later, it surfaced again, its eyes back to normal and focused on Remoraid.

"Natural Cure," Simon explained. "Dish all the damage what you want, you won't succeed. Corsola, Iron Defense!"

"Remoraid, Charge Beam, and be careful to hit Corsola, not the water!"

As Corsola strengthened its defenses, Remoraid took the time to charge an orb of electricity in its mouth, then fire it towards Corsola – only for Corsola to dodge the attack before Remoraid finished charging. Simon laughed and the crowd cheered, although somewhat restlessly, no doubt wanting Simon to finish Kris off already.

_Oh, just you wait..._

"Remoraid, jump up and fire at the water!" Kris ordered.

Remoraid charged an orb of electricity again, and as Simon ordered Corsola to use Power Gem, Remoraid jumped in the air, firing a Charge Beam into the water. For a split second, the battlefield was electrified, the shock getting through even Corsola's Iron Defense. As Remoraid landed again, Corsola was knocked unconscious. Gritting his teeth, Simon recalled the Pokémon.

For the rest of the battle, Kris commanded Remoraid as if it had been with her since the beginning. Simon sent out a Seadra, which was far faster than Remoraid, but in his desperation, Simon wanted to finish the battle quickly, ordering Seadra to use Hyper Beam. Remoraid blocked the attack with Protect, forcing Seadra to rest and recharge. With that, Kris had Remoraid counter with Charge Beam, hitting Seadra directly in the head and knocking it out and forcing it to be recalled.

" _Whoa, whoever this Kris from New Bark Town is - she reminds me of myself when I was a wee lass._ "

" _Not really relevant, Ben. I would have beaten that putz in half the time. But anyway, it looks like Simon is down to his last Pokémon. Will this one be the one to give Kris and her Remoraid pause?_ "

"Quagsire, go!"

A blue Pokémon with a round, elastic body emerged from the Poké Ball. Kris recognized this one from her studies. The evolved form of Wooper, part Ground-type with the Water Absorb ability.

_Looks like my attacks are useless against it. Better just lay down and admit defeat, spend the rest of the day sulking and... heh, just kidding._

"Quagsire, Mud Bomb!"

"Remoraid, dodge and Soak!"

Remoraid was too fast for Quagsire and dove underwater, sucking water inside it. As it emerged behind Quagsire, it spat the water it had sucked on Quagsire. It had seemingly no effect, the water just dripping off Quagsire's skin like it was made of oil. But Kris knew it had done the trick.

"Charge Beam!" Kris yelled.

Even Simon didn't seem to realize what happened as the beam of energy struck Quagsire, the attack's power having been greatly increased from the previous times. Quagsire was instantly knocked unconscious.

Simon himself was flabbergasted. There was a complete silence from the crowd and the announcers. Then...

" _Kris from New Bark Town wins! Unbelievable! I can't remember when I've seen a strategy like that used here!_ "

" _This is the_ first _Whirl Cup, Ben. But either way, Kris will continue to the next round, while next we'll be seeing Lyra, also from New Bark Town, faces off against Tully the Fisherman. Does the spirit of New Bark carry far enough for a double surprise against another experienced trainer?_ "

Kris had already walked back towards the exits, having recalled her Pokémon and reveled in Simon's bitter ranting for a moment. But she stopped at the doorway, wondering if she could stick around and watch the battle. There was a big chance she'd be going against Lyra, and much as she hated to admit it, she didn't stand a chance if she couldn't study her moves...

But at the doorway, she was pulled roughly away and led into the backroom again by a guard. Backstage, she was greeted by a few curious looks, but even those staring quickly looked away. Eusine walked up to her as the guard let go, Kris shooting a glare at his back as she rubbed her arm.

"Well?" Eusine queried. "How'd it go?"

"You... you didn't see it?" Kris wondered.

"Nah, no one back here is allowed to study other contestants, so this place is fairly soundproof and there are no monitors. Though I'll probably catch it on TV some time. So how'd it go?"

"I think I destroyed that guy," Kris said, the realization and enthusiasm slowly kicking in. "I won. _I won_! Oh my god Eusine, it was amazing, as soon as Croc _and_ Murkrow both went down, I thought I-"

"Yeah, tell me later," Eusine interrupted, looking at his watch. "We need to prep you for the second round while the others battle."

"Prep me? Oh, I just need a quick stop at the healing machine to get my team back to full strength and then it's done. I have a feeling that with this Remoraid, I can't lo-"

"The next round is not a battle, Kris. Didn't you read any of those fliers or rules or instructions?"

"...I skimmed them."

"Well, then you'll be in for a surprise..."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Three hours later...** _

" _And welcome back to the second round of the Whirl Cup. It's gonna be one hell of a night, won't it Mary?_ "

" _Indeed, Ben, as our remaining 16 contestants will now realize that strength in battle is not the only element a trainer should have – a lesson these amateurs would have to face sooner or later. A trainer must be in complete sync with their Pokémon, to be willing to get just as down and dirty as them and to survive even the toughest of obstacles. This is why the battlefield has temporarily transformed into a race track on water. Trainers on water skis will have to be pulled by the Pokémon of their choice across the water, and only the first eight to cross the finish line will continue into the next round._ "

Wearing a black, full-body wetsuit, Kris held on to the harness attached to her Remoraid and Murkrow as if her life depended on them. She stood at the starting line, having barely managed to get her skis on, along with the other 15 trainers. Lyra and Silver were there, as Kris had predicted, though neither had exchanged any words with Kris – probably for the best. The remaining contestants were mostly swimmers.

"All right," Kris muttered to her Pokémon. "I have to say, this is the first time I've ever been in a race of any kind... but I trust you both. Murkrow, you fly slightly ahead of Remoraid and scope the right path and turn accordingly. Remoraid, you focus on pulling and following Murkrow. With any luck, we'll have some time to prepare before-"

"Ready!" the judged yelled suddenly, and Kris steeled herself. "Set! Go!"

" _And they're off! Seems like Lyra's Starmie takes the lead despite pulling its trainer all by itself, followed by Pete Pebbleman's Sharpedo, then by Silver's Mantine, then Ace Trainer Kara's Ludicolo!_ "

" _Oh, but bad luck for Kris, who rose from least favorite to 'dark horse' after her last match. Seems her Remoraid is fast – a little too fast for her in fact. She took a nasty fall after two seconds of skiing and there's too much waves for me to tell what happened to her._ "

" _Oh, my, Swimmer Randall, who took on Fisherman Ralph impressively in the last round, has been sucked into the first obstacle – the turbine_!"

" _That's not a real turbine, is it? H-he hasn't been crushed into paste or anything?_ "

" _Hah, of course not... I think. But either way, it looks like this tournament is over for him. But wait! What's that thing speeding past all the other competitors. Is it... a Horsea? A Goldeen? A Finneon?_ "

" _It's a Remoraid. And look at it go! Looks like trainer Kris is still in the race despite... losing her skis? Divine Dialga! Kris, Remoraid and Murkrow just passed Swimmer Kim... now past Ace Trainer Kara... my goodness!_ "

" _Silver attempts to block her path, but his Mantine is just too slow for this amazing Remoraid. How much Carbos did Kris pump into this fish? We'll find out after the urine test._ "

" _They're ten yards from the finish line... Kris and Lyra are now by racing side by side... and they both did it! They passed the finish line, followed by Silver, the Kara, then Kim, then Pebbleman, then Swimmer Elaine and finally Swimmer Burke. Oh, and here go the remaining eight, but who cares about them, because they are OUT OF HERE! We still have to decide who crossed the finish line first, Kris or Lyra._ "

" _A word from of our judges... they're ready to check the video footage... and here it comes. My goodness, sports fans, it looks like we have a tie! For the first time in the history of the Whirl Cup!_ "

" _Ben..._ "

" _Well, it's true, sort of. And it just sounds cooler, so roll with it._ "

Eusine ran to the finish line dutifully with a towel ready. He saw a bitter-looking Lyra and even more bitter-looking Silver emerge from the pool, along with the other contestants, but Kris was nowhere to be seen. Eusine took a peek over the side of the pool.

Remoraid was flopping happily over the victory while Murkrow was flying circles above the small figure of a barely conscious trainer in a wetsuit laying face down in the water. Fortunately, the judges were quick to get her out of the pool.

Once out of the water, Kris coughed and hacked for several seconds straight, the harnesses of Remoraid and Murkrow still attached to her wrist. She took the towel Eusine handed her by instinct, but other than that, looked pretty out of it.

"I told you already, I showered this morning," Kris mumbled before coughing up water again. "I'm all clean now, I promise..."

"Awesome strategy, Kris!" Eusine commended. "The rules don't require you to keep wearing those skis through the whole race – you just went limp and let your Pokémon do the work! You've made it to the next round!"

"...strategy?" Kris wondered.

**~o~O~o~**

A while later, Kris had dried herself, changed back to her normal clothes and regained her composure... mostly. She was sitting on a bench and drinking the coffee Eusine had provided her while Eusine himself paced back and forth in the room, his cape swinging dramatically.

"Okay, we've made it to the third round-" he started.

"You mean _I_ made it to the third round?" Kris corrected. "I appreciate your help and I'm sure it was a big factor in all this, but _I_ was the one getting keelhauled over in that pool - or it sure as hell felt like that."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Eusine said. "But it's gonna get a lot tougher from here. I checked out the Pokémon your opponents will be using, though, and I don't know if even that Remoraid on steroids can match up to them! Lyra's Starmie was incredible! And it most likely knows every type of attack under the sun, meaning it's impossible to come up with a decent strategy to defeat it. My advice is to save Murkrow until last if you have to face her."

"Mm," Kris just said as she took a sip of her coffee. "Tell me something – whose bright idea was it to have this cup in the middle of the night? It's over 1 AM!"

"I know you're tired, but you gotta keep up the pressure!" Eusine said. "Ooh, hey, they're about to announce the next matchups!"

The mugshots of the trainers appeared on the monitor once again, accompanied by dramatic music so the trainers and the audience would pay attention to the screen. Lyra would be facing Pebbleman, Kara was facing Burke and Kim was facing Elaine, which left Kris with...

"You bastard," Kris grumbled at Silver, whom she just noticed was skulking in the shadows not far from Kris.

The red-haired boy walked up to Kris, looking down at her with the same smug expression Kris saw on him the last time. Only this time, Kris wasn't afraid of him. Eusine, on the other hand, muttered something about getting more coffee and quickly left the scene.

As Kris and Silver glared at each other, the judge announced that Lyra and Pete Pebbleman would fight now, and the two trainers walked up to the judge.

"So, how'd you like the last round?" Kris asked Silver, still sitting down, though she was inching her hand closer to her belt in case she needed to use her Pokémon. "No shame in being the bronze medalist, right? And don't be nervous just because I totally destroyed you in that race – I'm sure the fight will go just fine..."

"I'm not nervous," Silver said flatly.

"...for me!" Kris finished. Silver just stared. "Okay, that was a tad lame... anyway, heard you were up to some tomfoolery back at Cianwood. You weren't satisfied with the Chikorita you stole?"

Silver was undeterred. "How do you think I can return it now... considering it's not even a Chikorita anymore!"

Oddly enough, Silver opened his jacket. Kris thought he was going to flash her or something, but instead, Silver detached the necklace he was carrying, revealing it to be a Poké Ball he managed to smuggle in – extra Pokémon had to be left with the judges, though using a Pokémon one hadn't entered would automatically disqualify a contestant anyway.

Opening the Poké Ball, Silver revealed Chikorita's evolution, Bayleef. It was larger than Chikorita and was yellow instead of green, but other than that, looked similar to its pre-evolution. Kris scowled briefly, but decided it would not be worth the effort to debate ethics with this guy. What was more disturbing was how Bayleef affectionately rubbed its head against Silver upon being released from its ball – and how Silver didn't even seem to notice.

"Cute," Kris observed. "And it seems to have taken a shine to you, so yeah, I guess it is too late. For both it and you. But it's still not too late for that Sneasel you stole."

Silver scoffed as he returned Bayleef, who had a look resignation on its face before being turned into energy and sucked back into its capsule.

"The Sneasel is happier with me than with _him_ ," Silver said. "To him, Pokémon were just status symbols, show dogs, trophies to impress his few friends with. Just like the Chikorita was just going to go to some rich kid who paraded it around for a few weeks before getting bored and abandoning it."

"Oh, please," Kris groaned. "The ends justify the means and you're a just a big puppy dog underneath the douchey exterior? Give me a break."

Loud cheering was heard even through the soundproofed backstage room. Kris and Silver waited in silence for a few minutes, and soon enough, Lyra and Pebbleman returned to the back room. No one had to tell what happened – Lyra's self-satisfied expression was telling enough.

_So... if I beat this a-hole, I may have a chance to face off with Lyra..._

Kara the Ace Trainer and Burke the Swimmer walked to the battlefield next. When Silver was looking away, Kris tried to read his expression. His face was as blank as always, and the hair hanging in front of his face made it even tougher. But still, from Kris' perspective, Silver was awfully quiet and even tense. Was he just a rookie, too? Only one way to find out...

"So, where did this sudden philosophy come from?" Kris asked suddenly, prompting Silver to glare at her. "Or is 'hypocrisy' a better word? How long have you been a trainer, anyway, like a week?"

"I wouldn't be so sure of your victory yet," Silver just said. "I've been training since I was ten. That is, until I realized the futility of all this, fighting for gym badges, for championships..."

"Uh, yeah, might as well go with 'hypocrisy', then."

"I'm _here_ because I need to become stronger. I'm not doing it for the fame or the fortune. I want to become the strongest trainer in all of Johto."

"...why?"

Silver just stared at Kris, his expression too difficult to discern anything about.

"Kris from New Bark Town versus Silver from Cherrygrove City," the judge called out. "Both of the swimmers that were supposed to go next are busy being sick in the bathroom, so you're going before them! Move!"

Kris stood up while Silver just put his hands in his pockets and stomped towards the judge slightly ahead of Kris.

"Pretty bold of you to compete without a fake name or a mask or anything," Kris remarked, smiling. "Aren't you afraid the police will find you here?"

Silver just shot a smirk back. "Good luck, Kris."

"I..." Kris stared at him. "Uh, sure, you too."

Once again, Kris found herself at the opposite end of a large pool of water. The timer was already ticking, and the announcers were rambling on, but Kris had learned to block their chatter completely last time. Now was not the time for anything else.

"Remoraid, go!"

"Mantine, go!"

Silver sent out a large, flat Pokémon with a dark blue back and a gray underside. With its enormous wings, it soared gracefully around the battlefield, and Silver was ready with a command before Kris could even consider anything.

"Confuse Ray!" Silver yelled.

Mantine launched a glowing ball of light at Remoraid, and before Kris could tell Remoraid to use Protect, the ball started spinning around the Jet Pokémon, confusing it.

"Shake it off, Remoraid!" Kris commanded. "Use Charge Beam!"

But instead, Remoraid did something bizarre. It charged at Mantine and bit on its wing, not hurting the Kite Pokémon but instead attaching itself to it, suckling on whatever dirt had gathered under Mantine's wing. The Mantine just looked cheerful as always.

"Stop fooling around!" Kris yelled frantically. "Do something!"

Kris knew that recalling Remoraid would be the same as letting Mantine knock it out, as switching Pokémon were not allowed. Unfortunately, it seemed that Silver was thinking along the same lines.

"I'll decide for you," Silver remarked. "Wing Attack!"

Mantine acted so fast that all Kris could see was a flash, and suddenly Remoraid had flown back into the pool, all its energy gone. With a sigh, Kris recalled it.

Kris sent out her Murkrow next, deciding to pit the two flying Pokémon against each other. Once again, Silver reacted incredibly quickly, telling Mantine to use Bubblebeam. Kris countered with Faint Attack, allowing Murkrow to vanish out of Mantine's way and strike it with a full-body tackle.

But Silver was quick to the trigger and ordered Mantine to use Take Down just as Murkrow collided with it, allowing it to flatten the Darkness Pokémon with its body. Unfortunately for Silver, Kris reacted almost as quickly and ordered Murkrow to use Peck, which did increased damage as Murkrow stabbed Mantine with its beak point-blank, finally knocking it out.

Silver barely reacted, just recalled the Mantine, while Kris shouted encouragement to Murkrow. In contrast with his quick reflexes earlier, Silver took his time to take out his next Poké Ball and toss it in the air. Kris expected another water-type, only to be greeted with something that was neither water nor flying – a small, bluish black Pokémon with razor-sharp claws and many equally deadly red feathers sticking out of it.

"Sneasel," Kris said to herself. "That's... hey, that's not a-"

" _An unexpected move from Silver, who took on his previous challenger with his Mantine alone! But the rules say that only two Pokémon must be water-types, and while the third is_ recommended _to be either a water- or flying-type, no rule says it has to be mandatory. As long as Sneasel can fight in this environment, it's perfectly within its right to battle._ "

"Clever girl!" Kris taunted Silver, the effect kind of lost when she had to yell it in order for him to hear. "But you _just_ stole this Pokémon. No way will it obey you – and even if it does, it belonged to some geek PokéManiac. It probably fights like crap anyway."

"Sneasel, Fury Swipes!"

"Murkrow, Haze!" Kris ordered quickly.

If it weren't for Eusine's advice, Kris would have never considered this move, but just as Kris had hoped, Murkrow spat out a small cloud of black smoke at the Sneasel, then flew out of the attack's way while Sneasel landed on water, but soon leaped back at Silver's platform. Silver himself was unaffected.

"Icy Wind!" he commanded.

Sneasel easily cleared out the smoke with a cold breeze of wind. With no time to think a better strategy, Kris ordered Murkrow to use Wing Attack, while Silver countered with a Metal Claw. Sneasel was faster, and it struck Murkrow with its claws and even use Murkrow as a jump pad to get back on the platform. The lack of ground didn't seem to bother it all, while Kris had to recall Murkrow before the unconscious bird dropped in the pool.

Sighing at the failure of her strategy, Kris took out her last Poké Ball, but didn't open it yet. Instead, she closed her eyes and brought the ball close to her mouth, just like last time. Only this time, she had more to say:

"I know you don't like me much," Kris whispered. "I know you were expecting to be under the command of someone more confident, someone more skilled, someone who wasn't so socially dead... but what I can say? This is what I am. I can try to change, sure, but I'm fine with myself. I may not _like_ myself either, but I can live with myself, and I would like you to do the same, because like it or not, we're stuck with each other. If you can hear what's going on out here, you know I already wasted that Swimmer guy and beat everyone else in the race. I can win this cup, but you have to help me get there."

Kris paused, took a deep breath, and threw the Poké Ball.

"Croc, go!"

When Croc emerged from the Poké Ball, it didn't dance around for once. Silver smirked even more, no doubt remembering the pain in his leg.

"Sneasel, make sure this one lasts long," Silver said softly. "Fury Swipes!"

"Water Gun!"

To Kris' utter surprise, the Totodile obeyed her for once. Sneasel was stopped on its tracks when it was hit by Croc's attack, and flew straight into the pool. Sneasel quickly jumped back on Silver's platform and shook itself dry, causing Silver to cringe.

"I see," he muttered. "Icy Wind!"

Kris wondered what that'd accomplish against Croc... only to see Sneasel was aiming at the pool. Making a small ice platform, Sneasel landed on it gracefully and readied its claws in a defensive posture, expecting Croc to make the next move.

Kris ordered Croc to use Water Gun, but Silver was quick to retort with a Feint Attack. Sneasel leaped out of the way, struck Totodile with its body and bounced up in the air again. Silver then ordered an Ice Punch and Sneasel made another ice platform that it created the second it touched the surface.

Telling Croc to stay in the water, Kris ordered another Water Gun, but it didn't seem to do a thing, as Silver just countered with another Ice Punch that froze the attack solid and shattered it. Next, Silver ordered another Icy Wind, this time aiming at Croc.

The Totodile was fast enough to dodge, but the effect was just what Silver had wanted to: the battlefield was slowly turning into an ice skating rink. Fortunately, Kris had an idea.

"Go underwater!" Kris ordered.

Croc hesitated, but seeing the Sneasel continuing the freeze the place with Icy Wind, it obeyed, the Icy Wind attack soon hitting the spot Totodile had been, freezing the surface completely. Silver hadn't ordered Sneasel to stop yet, clearly wondering what Kris' strategy was.

"Now, Headbutt!" Kris screamed, having to raise her voice as much as she could to make sure Croc heard her.

Silver didn't order a counter-attack, and Sneasel looked confused too... until Croc launched itself through the ice beneath the Sneasel, hitting the Sharp Claw Pokémon so hard it was knocked out. For once, Kris registered a brief moment of frustration on Silver's face as he recalled the Sneasel, but it soon faded away.

Before Silver could throw another Poké Ball, however, something happened to Croc. It climbed on on top of an ice block and closed its eyes. Kris thought there was something wrong with it, but then it started glowing brightly and growing, gaining three new red spikes on its head and a bulkier, fiercer appearance. Her hands shaking, Kris scanned the newly evolved Pokémon with SkrillDex:

" _Unit is amazed username Kris pulled an evolution off – it assumed_ _that upon seeing it,_ _user would proclaim it heresy and chase it around with a torch and pitchfork. Scanning... Croconaw, the Big Jaw Pokémon, evolved form of Totodile. This Pokémon has 48 sharp fangs, which it can regrow whenever one falls off. It can dislocate its jaw to open it wider than normally possible, and will relentlessly keep biting its target no matter what._ "

"Sweet," Kris said as she roughly pocketed SkrillDex before it could offer more of its opinions.

Seeing Totodile evolve into Croconaw didn't seem to do anything to Silver's stoic demeanor. He calmly threw out his last Pokémon – a Tentacruel. It landed on the ice created by Sneasel, which immediately cracked under the Jellyfish Pokémon. Despite the massive size difference to Croc, Kris didn't even hesitate to give a command.

"Croc, Scary Face!" Kris ordered.

"Tentacruel, Poison Jab!" Silver countered.

The high-level Tentacruel was faster, forcing Croc to jump out of the attack's way. It easily shattered the ice Croc was standing on, so Croc jumped in the water instead.

"Okay... try Bite!"

But as Croc charged at the Tentacruel, Silver ordered Tentacruel to use Wrap. Outmatched once again, Croc was grabbed by the Jellyfish Pokémon's tentacles and strangled by them. Kris told Croc to bite at the tentacle, but another one soon wrapped itself around Croc's mouth, keeping it immobile.

"That's right," Silver told Tentacruel. "Squeeze harder."

But Tentacruel didn't seem to react. Instead, it stopped using Wrap for a moment.

"Do it!" Silver ordered. "There's no room for a disobedient Pokémon in my team!"

Tentacruel did as ordered, squeezing Croc roughly, while all Kris could do was watch, unable to think of any maneuver that could save the Croconaw now.

"Now, Toxic," Silver said simply.

Though it took Tentacruel a few seconds, it finally raised another tentacle and turned its tip purple. It then lightly poked the Croconaw in the ribs with it, and while it was just a graze, Kris saw Croc writhing and flailing around even harder in Tentacruel's grasp.

"Wh-what are you doing? !" Kris couldn't help but to shout at Silver.

"The darker side of Pokémon battles," Silver explained. "Oh, it's all fun and games until someone actually gets hurt. Even Pokémon have their limits, Kris. There's no way your Croconaw can escape Tentacruel's grasp, and I have poisoned it, too. This will be a very painful battle for it if you just let its energy run out – slowly."

"You can't do that!"

"Clearly, I can. The judges haven't stopped me. It's your move now. All I have to do is to make sure Tentacruel keeps your Pokémon in its grasp. And in a few seconds, little _Croc_ won't have enough energy left to fight back. What will you do?"

_He has to be bluffing! Why should I believe any of that? Croc could break out any minute now, right?_

_But if he can't..._

"You malicious bastard," Kris grumbled and raised Croc's Poké Ball. "Croc, return!"

Croc was mercifully returned to its Poké Ball. The crowd went wild and the monitors around the stadium announced that Silver was the winner. The announcers kept using pretentious adjectives and claiming how they knew this was going to happen, while Kris slowly retreated backstage. Halfway through, she looked over her shoulder, and saw Silver wordlessly return Tentacruel and walk away too. No gloating, no basking in the victory, nothing.

And all that did was make Kris feel even worse.

To her surprise, Eusine was waiting at the doorway.

"Hey, I thought you weren't supposed to be here-" she started weakly, not really caring.

"No time to explain," Eusine said quickly. "You still have the GS Ball with you? You haven't traded it for candy or magic beans or anything?"

"Of course I do... have it with me, I mean. What-"

"Someone wants to see it. Come with me!"

Eusine guided Kris away from the stage, but instead of leading her to the backstage room, he turned to a door blocked by a guard. For whatever reason, the guard let Eusine and Kris pass, and head up several flights of stairs. Kris kept protesting and complaining about her legs all the way, but nonetheless followed Eusine up until the duo arrived into a spacious room with panoramic windows on all sides. The entire stadium was visible from there.

But Kris focused her attention to the tall man with fancy white clothes, including a beret, well-styled turquoise hair and a long, flowing cape just like Eusine's.

"W-w-wa..."

"Oh dear, you must excuse her," Eusine said, putting some dramatic exhaustion in his voice. "Being around legends like us seems to give her brain damage-"

Kris pushed Eusine away, causing him to trip on his cape, forcing him to focus on adjusting it – along with his hair.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," the man said softly. "I am Wallace. I was in charge of putting together this tournament... oh, and I'm the Champion and Master Coordinator of Hoenn, but that's not really important now."

Wallace offered Kris his hand to shake, but Kris was having trouble processing everything right now. So, quickly enough, he dropped it, though he still kept smiling warmly.

"As you can see, there's a view of the whole stadium here," Wallace said and made a grand gesture across the room. "Contestants aren't allowed here, but you were already eliminated, so I think we can sleep soundly tonight. I watched your battling, Kris. I was impressed."

"Buh... but I lost," Kris stuttered.

"You defeated one much more experienced trainer with a Pokémon you freshly obtained," Wallace remarked. "And, based on what..." Wallace sighed as he glanced at Eusine, who was smoothing out the wrinkles in his suit. " _Eusine_ here told me, you managed to gain the trust of a disobedient Pokémon in the heat of a battle. Even your match against is Silver was far more exciting than most I've seen in this cup."

This caused Kris to start coughing violently and make strange high-pitched noises. Wallace seemed remarkably patient faced with oddness, and eventually Kris recovered, though her face was fairly red.

"Thanks," she muttered out.

_Thinkofsomethingcooltosayquicknow!_

"Uh, how do you know Eusine?" Kris asked awkwardly.

_You screwed it up, you idiot!_

"Oh, I'm also a member of the Legendary Pokémon Society," Wallace said evenly as he showed Kris his badge. He then glared at Eusine. "Since Eusine already blabbered about it enough, and you're apparently in the trial anyway, I guess it's okay to tell you. It was a nice secret organization we had once, wasn't it, Eusine?"

Eusine just shrugged.

"I wish I could give you some advice on your journey, but this tournament is taking all my time, and I must return to Hoenn after this," Wallace sighed. "But I think I can help you with one thing. See that man over there?"

Kris flinched when she realized there was another person in the room. It was a short man with messy dark hair, wearing a lab coat and thick classes, hunched over some lab equipment and apparently oblivious to anything else in the room. Wallace cleared his throat.

"Gideon, they're here," he said.

The scientist practically leaped out of his chair and looked wildly around until he realized Kris was there. Adjusting his glasses, he smiled nervously.

"Ah, sorry, my research has improved immensely since Wallace lent me the use of this area and its portable lab equipment," he said as he put his hands in his pockets. "Sorry, can't shake hands with you right now, they're kinda oily, but either way, I am Dr. Gideon, so nice to meet you."

"Doctor... oh, right!" Kris said, dropped her bag and started to awkwardly rummage it, hoping that no one would see what a mess it was. After some digging, she found the GS Ball, wrapped in a thick layer of paper towels. She carefully handed it over to Gideon. "You're Kurt's son, right? I was asked to deliver this to you. Granny's farm and all that."

Gideon took it from Kris very carefully, handling it with even more awe than Kris had. He inspected it from every corner, rolling it around in his hands. He tried pressing the button in the middle, but nothing happened, as Kris had expected. Finally, he placed it under his microscope and spent a moment investigating it, muttering to himself. Kris, Wallace and Eusine just watched in silence. Eventually, Gideon grunted approvingly and held the GS Ball in his hand again.

"Thank you for bringing this to me," Gideon said. "Do you know why this thing is so important?"

Kris shook her head.

"A Poké Ball like this has never been crafted before," Gideon announced, sounding awestruck by his own words. "It's even more powerful than the infamous prototype Master Ball developed at Silph Co. Oh, allow me to explain... I used to work there, designing and building new Poké Balls. I worked on the Master Ball project for a while, but decided that it wasn't for me and moved to Johto for some private research. I also needed to see my father and my daughter."

Kris wasn't sure what to say – she wasn't really all that interested in anything but the ball itself.

"Anyway," Gideon continued, "see the gold and silver plating here? My analysis proved me right – this thing has been made from Ho-Oh and Lugia's feathers, the only material available that contain a Pokémon with immense power."

"Who made it?" Kris asked. "And why?"

"I don't know who," Gideon whispered dramatically. "But I do know that we need a Poké Ball like this. We live in times where Pokémon far overpower us. I'm sure you know of the Suicune incident, but even that Pokémon's power is easily dwarfed by some other creatures I have heard only rumors about. We need something to fight back."

"Okay."

"This thing is extremely valuable," Gideon continued as he approached Kris, holding the GS Ball on his open palm. "And my job was merely to make sure it was the real thing Now that I have confirmed, I need someone to take it to its rightful owner in Mahogany Town. Kris?"

Kris just stared at Gideon blankly, but nonetheless held out her hand so Gideon could hand her the GS Ball. She glanced at Wallace and Eusine, who looked just as clueless – but the whole setup seemed so contrived.

_I've been given a huge responsibility under the noses of people sent to observe me? Way too easy. But then again, I thought the same for this medicine thing._

"All right," Kris said and wrapped the GS Ball in paper towels again, carefully putting it back in her bag. "You can count on me. Who will I be delivering it to?"

"The receiver will be expecting a courier in the Mahogany Pokémon Center," Gideon said as he returned to his station. "He'll recognize you, so don't worry. And thanks – for both me and my father. You went far out of your way to deliver it here, so it's not easy for me to ask you to deliver it just a _little_ further."

Wallace wasn't listening to the conversation anymore. His attention was directed to the window that offered a full view of the battlefield.

"The semi-finals are already underway," Wallace observed. "Kris, I think you'll be interested in seeing this... I'll turn on the monitors."

There were monitors hanging around from different parts of the ceiling all over the room, all playing the same footage – two contestants battling and the announcers prattling on in the background.

" _...after his Mantine went down with a single blow. His Sneasel lasted a little longer, but was nonetheless easily taken care of by a Bubblebeam attack._ "

"Who's fighting?" Eusine wondered as he walked next to Kris and stared at the same monitor while Wallace observed the battle through the window.

"Lyra and Silver," Kris muttered. "We'll see how it goes."

As Kris had predicted, Silver sent out his Tentacruel next, down on his last Pokémon. Kris was shocked to see that Lyra, on the other hand, still had all three Pokémon left, fighting with the same Starmie that had pulled her during the race.

"That Starmie hasn't been knocked out once," Wallace said. "It's been the betters' favorite since her first match."

Predictably, Lyra ordered her Starmie to use Thunderbolt, but Silver told Tentacruel to stay still and deflect the attack with Protect. Next, Silver ordered a Sludge Bomb, and while the Starmie dodged, the attack polluted the water around it, finally causing it some damage.

"Clever," Wallace mused appreciatively. "There's no use using Recover anymore, as it would just be poisoned again."

But Lyra didn't seem to mind. Ordering Starmie to use Rapid Spin, the Mysterious Pokémon easily cleared the sludge in the water. Silver told Tentacruel to use Poison Jab, but Lyra ordered a Recover, which made Starmie dive underwater for a few seconds, avoiding the attack and restoring its energy.

Kris tensed up when Silver ordered Tentacruel to use Wrap. Just like with Croc, Tentacruel managed to grab the fast Starmie in its grasp and trap it. Starmie could still Recover energy, but how long could Lyra last?

Both Kris and Eusine opened their mouths in shock as Lyra did something unexpected. Taking off her hat and shoes, Lyra jumped in the pool, yelling something at the Starmie which no one could hear due to the overexcited announcers. Lyra only had to swim a few feet closer to her Pokémon when Starmie suddenly started spinning again, breaking free of Tentacruel's grasp with a Rapid Spin.

Before Silver could come up with a counter-strategy, Lyra ordered Thunderbolt, hitting Tentacruel point-blank and finally knocking it out. Silver grumpily returned his Pokémon while Lyra swam to the Starmie, patting the jewel on its center and saying something to it. Then, the video cut back to DJ Mary and DJ Ben in the announcer booth.

"That was an excellent battle," Wallace announced, walking away from the window. "Do you know why Lyra defeated Silver when faced with the same situation as you, Kris?"

"Um... I guess?"

 _I have no idea_.

"Good. Remember that. And don't worry, you'll get an opportunity yourself one day. Now, would you like to stick around to see who Lyra will face in the finals? It's Kara versus Kim."

"Nah, I don't know those people, and I don't care," Kris sighed. "I mean, I care, it's just, I should probably get this GS Ball delivered and everything."

**~o~O~o~**

During the time it took Kris and Eusine to get out of the stadium, the two already heard that Swimmer Kim would be the one to face Lyra in the final match. There was more traffic outside now, people enjoying the intermission, buying snacks from the vendors and talking enthusiastically about the match. Kris tried to avoid the crowds, not just because of the usual reasons, but because she couldn't stand talking about the match at the moment – there were other things on her mind.

"Well, kid, you made it to the Top 8 at least!" Eusine encouraged as he struggled to keep up with Kris' pace, tripping on his cape numerous times. "Considering what you started with, that's a-"

"Yeah, thanks, I don't need you trying to cheer me up," Kris snapped. "And will you stop calling me 'kid'? It makes you sound like a condescending prick!"

"I guess I'd consider it when you actually defeated me in a battle-"

"Forget it," Kris grumbled. "Let's just go and wait for the next ferry."

But as they walked around the stadium to find the pier where ferries to Olivine City left from, they had to walk past an old, destroyed wooden pier. The area was otherwise void of people except for a familiar red-haired character standing on the water's edge, his Tentacruel in the water. Silver was apparently talking to it – or berating it, as Kris heard as she approached them.

"...room in my team for weaklings!" Silver said coldly. "You had Starmie in your grasp, but you hesitated, just like with that Croconaw. You cost me this tournament!"

"I hope you're not expecting it to respond!" Kris shouted at Silver upon getting close enough to announce her presence. Silver glanced at her lazily, but quickly focused on Tentacruel again. "Science hasn't exactly gotten _that_ far, but more importantly, I wouldn't talk to you either – you're really kind of a jerk."

Silver didn't respond, instead, he pointed at the Tentacruel with its Poké Ball and pressed a small button at the ball's bottom. A blue beam struck Tentacruel and made it glow pale blue for a few seconds. Finally, Silver discarded the Poké Ball by throwing it into the ocean.

Ignoring the depressed, slumped stance of the released Tentacruel, Silver turned to face Kris, making Kris regret her cheekiness – he looked pissed.

"I heard what you did at the Slowpoke Well," Silver started.

"Oh, thank you, it was no big deal, really," Eusine said, waving his hand "modestly".

"I was talking to her," Silver said, not even looking at Eusine. "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish, but whatever it is, _stay out of my way_. You're on some kind of quest, and guess what? So am I. And I don't need weaklings slowing me down."

"Is that your favorite word or something?" Kris wondered.

Silver opened another Poké Ball, sending out his Mantine. The Kite Pokémon flew in circles above Silver for a while, then swooped in and allowed Silver to grab on its tail, picking him up. The Pokémon and its trainer quickly flew away from the Whirl Islands and out of sight.

Before either Kris or Eusine could comment on this melodramatic exit, Wallace walked up to them, his attention focused on the now-trainerless Tentacruel.

"It's amazing what people do, or _don't do_ , to their Pokémon," he commented, looking at the Tentacruel sadly. "I take it that was the thief who stole a Pokémon from Elm's laboratory?"

"Wha... yes!" Kris said. "And he stole one from Cianwood, too! You mean – you knew? Why didn't you arrest him?"

"I'm not a police officer," Wallace said simply. "And besides, the path that he walks can only end in misery. He's already dug himself deep – he just needs to realize this. If anything, I just feel pity for him."

"I don't," Kris muttered as rubbed her neck.

"Make no mistake," Wallace said, "he needs to pay for his crimes. But his motives are what fascinate me, or they would, were he not such an unsubtle brute. Speaking of which – you, Tentacruel!"

The Tentacruel sadly turned to look at Wallace, who slowly walked up to it, smiling warmly.

"You know, water-types are my favorite kind of Pokémon," he said. "I'm sorry about your earlier trainer, but if you want, I could give you a home. What do you say?"

The Tentacruel stared at Wallace for a brief, quiet moment, as if it was gouging his intentions. Finally, it nodded its massive head, allowing Wallace to lightly tap the Pokémon with an Ultra Ball, sucking it in. The Ultra Ball only shook once before settling down.

"Welcome to my team," Wallace said as he put the ball in his pocket. "I need to go and watch the finale now. You better leave too, Kris. I hope you succeed in your endeavors."

With that, Wallace bowed to Kris, nodded briefly to Eusine and left, his cape swinging around dramatically. Kris and Eusine glanced at each other before shrugging and heading to the docks.

But as the left, another figure emerged from the water. Clad in a soggy uniform and soaking wet, a Ditto clutching on to him, the man struggled to pull himself back on land, panting heavily and coughing as he glared after Kris and Eusine.

"That's her," Missile grunted. "Ditto, do you remember her? That girl from the Ruins of Alph, and the Slowpoke Well. And she's no doubt carrying that expensive Poké Ball Kurt gave her. Ditto, prepare yourself for combat – me and her will definitely be getting closely acquainted soon..."

**~o~O~o~**

Making sure the door was closed shut and Wallace had left the room, Dr. Gideon quickly took out his PokéGear. Hiding in the corner to make sure no one could see him even through the panoramic windows, he dialed the number. Breathing sharply and sweating profusely, he put the PokéGear against his ear, biting his nails as he heard the dial tone.

Finally, an electronically modified voice answered: " _Doctor Gideon. Status report._ "

"Sorry for the delay, sir" Gideon said quickly, wiping sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. "The girl with Project GS is leaving the stadium with the next ferry. She's on her way to Mahogany Town."

" _Ah, I'll organize a little get-together for her honor in Ecruteak, then. It's high-time to put the fear of the Mask in these adorable little region's hearts. Good work, Gideon, it's nice to see my staff isn't_ entirely _incompetent_."

"Thank you, sir, I-"

" _Of course none of this would be necessary if you had the common sense not to get an APB from every stinking police officer_ _between Goldenrod and Ecruteak for petty theft. I'm starting to wonder if my people truly realize the full extent of my vision. What do you think, Proton?_ "

" _P-please, sir.._. _"_

"Uh, sir?"

" _Oh, don't mind this, Gideon. Proton has just recovered from his cooldown. Looks like there's no need for amputation... yet. Gideon, how soon can I expect you here?_ "

"Ah, should be just a few more days, sir. I promise."

" _Glad to hear it. I'll be seeing you."_

And with that, all Gideon heard was the dial tone again. He exhaled sharply as he lowered the PokéGear.

**~o~O~o~**

Silver had crouched behind the Olivine Café. Even in the middle of the night, two police officers with flashlights and Growlithe were patrolling the area, talking loudly to themselves about catching a criminal sighted at the Whirl Islands. Deciding not to take any changes, Silver let Sneasel out of its Poké Ball and told it to await for his signal. There was no turning back, though - he had come too far to be arrested now.

When something suddenly vibrated in his pocket, Silver's gasp almost gave him away. Checking his PokéGear, he noticed a simple text message, but it was enough to put a smile on his face. This one was for the one he was waiting for:

" _It's begun. - LG_ "

"You ready to go, Sneasel?" Silver asked and smirked. "They don't even stand a chance."


	9. The Bells of Ho-Oh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris heads to Ecruteak City, but is still not ready for the challenges ahead of her, especially the appearance of the Mask of Ice

_**Location: Ecruteak City, Johto** _

"Kris' diary: _Sunday morning – I have exactly two weeks and a day before the Silver Conference begins. I have arrived to Ecruteak, having used the whole Saturday for training. Eusine offered me a ride directly here, but I'm not sitting in a car which he's driving. I like my head where it is, thanks. I didn't battle Jasmine, who was apparently accepting challengers again – why, thank you, Lyra – but I fought several trainers on my way back here. Croc, Lampent and Murkrow have become much more powerful._ _I know Morty might just be the toughest leader in the region, next to Clair of course, but I have to try!_ "

Leaving the Ecruteak City Pokémon Center, a newspaper stand caught Kris' attention. It was the extra-thick Sunday edition, and Kris felt her blood-pressure rising as she saw the headline:

" _New Bark's Lyra_ _crowned winner of the Whirl Cup_."

And, of course, most of the page was dominated by the obnoxiously smiling picture of Lyra, posing to the camera and winking. Still, her mood was slightly improved by the headline below the picture:

" _Slow news day boggles reporters – see pictures from page 2 to page 39._ "

**Chapter Nine** _**: The Bells of Ho-Oh** _

"I'm afraid master Morty isn't taking in any challengers today."

After about twenty minutes of walking, Kris had located the gym. But unfortunately, a monk at the door rejected her and was about to shoo her out.

"I don't understand," Kris complained. "Why?"

"He has just returned from an excursion at the Burned Tower," the monk explained, Kris being clueless as to what that meant. "He has done secret work there with a... _beleaguering_ partner. I am not at liberty to say anything else."

"Hey, baldy, I'm back," an obnoxious voice suddenly yelled from behind Kris. "Just forgot to tell good ol' Mort one more thing. You, twig, make some space!"

Kris didn't bother looking. Soon enough, Eusine walked up to her and recognized her, shaking Kris' shoulders enthusiastically.

"Well pump me full of nitrates and call me a workman's dinner!" Eusine gushed. "You're finally here! Too bad you didn't ride with me in the Porsche – you could have gotten here early yesterday afternoon. Oh, well, gonna challenge Morty, then?"

"I-"

"Splendid!" Eusine said, grabbing Kris under his arm and dragging her past the monk. "Take five, brother... you. Go and meditate or whatever you guys do. Don't bother calling Mort, I want to surprise the guy."

"You know Morty?" Kris wondered as she took Eusine's arm off her shoulder and walked on her own. "Oh don't tell me. He's also a-"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Eusine asked. "We're practically blood brothers, he and... I."

"This better not be total crap like your story about Lance," Kris reminded as Eusine led her towards a door leading to the gym area.

"Hey, Lance is a bro," Eusine said defensively as Kris rolled her eyes, "but Morty is something else. He's been helping me from the beginning. I have hunted Suicune down for ten years, and Morty has been there to help me every step of the way. Morty's even my partner in this whole Suicune case."

"Well that's, um, neat," Kris said. "You know, I'm a pretty big fan... a huge fan, actually. I mean, don't tell anyone, but I've fangirled over some of the more famous trainers for many years now. And after Cynthia from Sinnoh – and Suicune, of course – Morty is my absolute favorite. He's just so... cool, you know?"

"Oh yeah," Eusine agreed.

"You'd just want a guy like that to..." Kris blurted out before catching herself. "Um, battle you."

"Yup," Eusine said. "Me and Morty have given each other a pretty intense pounding a couple of times, I can tell you that."

"...oh?"

Eusine opened the door, and before Kris could ask any more questions or come up with fantasies, she found herself squealing in surprise as she and Eusine stepped into what appeared to be literally a huge room of nothing... except for colorful shapes swirling around silently. There was just space in every direction Kris looked, and the door leading to the entrance had vanished, too.

"Did you just drug me or something?" Kris asked.

"Huh?" Eusine wondered calmly, just looking around him as if he had dropped his keys somewhere. "No, this is the layout of the gym. There's usually trainers here, too, but it's Sunday, so they're all either home or in service at the Bell Tower. The trick is to find tell the right path from the illusions, and if you don't, you're-"

"Sucked into a quasar?" Kris asked in horror.

"Returned to the entrance," Eusine mumbled. "But for special visitors such as yours truly, there's a shortcut to the gym leader's chambers. Ah, here! Quick, hold my hand."

"Eww! Well, you're wearing gloves, so fine..."

Kris squealed in shock for the second time today as Eusine stepped on a secret floor panel that transported them both somewhere – but not to the entrance, nor to outer space, but into a cold room lit by torches hanging ominously on the walls. In the middle of the room, a tall man with blonde hair trained on a punching bag. He was only wearing pants and a purple bandana, but his feet and his muscular, but lean upper body were completely bare. Kris tried not to squee at finally meeting her idol, but Morty just kept working on the bag, barely blinking an eye at the sudden arrival.

"Hi, Eusine," he muttered between punches. "Did you forget something? Because I'd rather train alone."

"Manners, Morty!" Eusine said. "We have a visitor! I brought you a challenger and – don't you usually just spend your Sundays meditating?"

"Gee, usually, yeah," Morty grunted, punching the bag even harder. "But every time we go on a job together, I feel the urge to do some physical training. Funny, that."

"Oh, great, so I'm motivating you!" Eusine beamed. "Anyway, this here's Kris. I told you about our work at the Society-"

"Eusine!" Morty snapped as he stopped punching the bag and turned to glare at the caped schmuck. "Ixnay!"

"You know I don't speak French, man," Eusine said. "And anyway, don't worry about the secret stuff, Kris here is already in the know. She's from New Bark Town and she's on the challenge to get admitted into the Silver Conference."

"Uh, I... nice to meet you," Kris said and bowed respectfully, wondering if it was considered polite or stupid.

Morty just nodded. "That doesn't explain why you brought her here."

"You're supposed to be clairvoyant, dude, you figure it out!" Eusine said. "The runt just wants to get stronger. She's still got a long way to go, but maybe she could learn a thing or two from you. I mean, I trashed her, but maybe you're more on her level – and she did just make it to the Top 8 in the Whirl Cup."

Morty looked at Kris curiously for a moment. Kris felt like she had gotten several inches smaller in a short time. Finally, Morty nodded to Eusine.

"All right," he said. "But if we're going to battle, we'll need some privacy."

"Hey, I gotcha, buddy," Eusine said and made a strange hand gesture in Morty's direction – Morty returned it halfheartedly. "I'mma just swing by the Bell Tower and then it's back to tracking Suicune. Laters!"

Eusine casually stepped on a strange, glowing floor tile and suddenly vanished, prompting another squeal from Kris.

"He's just been taken to the entrance," Morty explained and sighed deep. "Thank the Original One. Don't get me wrong, he's a friend, but spending too much time with him in one go..."

"Oh, I understand, believe me" Kris said meekly, trying not to look at the half-naked gym leader in the room.

Morty smiled, and to Kris' surprise, bowed respectfully as well. "Now then, sorry for being rude before, Eusine tries my patience at times. I am Morty, Ecruteak's Gym Leader. And you're taking the Silver Conference trials, I see."

"Uh huh."

Much to the both relief and disappointment of Kris, Morty picked up a T-shirt he had placed on a nearby stool and put it on, though he still kept his feet bare.

"I wish you luck on that, but to be honest, I'd rather they discontinue the thing," Morty remarked as he walked around the room. "I've seen a few promising young trainers take on the challenge but get crushed by the difficulty, or hazed by my fellow members."

"Well, um, I haven't been hazed," Kris said quietly, and Morty stopped walking and listened politely. "I've met Lance and Wallace before and they were fairly polite."

Morty nodded in understanding. "Of course," he chuckled. "Even they think being partnered with Eusine is punishment enough. But still, your quest is far from over, and even when you think it is, you'll be forced to undergo evaluation in front of the Wise Trio. They're three monks who live here in Ecruteak. They take care of the two towers, serve as our town's religious leaders and do important work for the Society. And they're an uptight, nitpicky bunch."

Kris wasn't sure whether to laugh or not, so she just made an odd chortling sound, which Morty thankfully ignored. Kris quickly decided to change the subject.

"Can you tell me about the Society?" she asked. "I don't really know as much as I'd like."

"Well, we were _supposed_ to be secret," Morty said coyly. "But that Skitty has been out of the bag for a while now, thank you very much, Eusine. And I see you're a reliable person, so all right. Ecruteak City is our base of operations. Our leader, whose identity I won't tell you yet, founded us fifteen years ago. He used to be a part of an ancient order of monks, but left them to start his own section here in Ecruteak. That was fifty years ago, and today, that section has become the leading religious group in Johto. He and his monks do continuous research and Pokémon training to understand and uphold the ancient ways, to worship our lord Arceus and await the return of Johto's legendary Pokémon."

"You see, here in Ecruteak, Pokémon have long been revered. It is said that one particular rainbow-hued Pokémon will come down to appear before a truly powerful trainer. Our leader was originally supposed to train powerful people to ensure its return and pay tribute to it in the meantime, but the MO of our organization grew along our numbers. Today, we study Pokémon, particularly the mythical and powerful ones. We protect them from humanity, and if need be, humanity from them."

Kris blinked. "Wow," she simply said. "Um, Morty, I sure you get this a lot, but-"

"I'm sorry, but we're not accepting new members at the moment," Morty said politely. "We have our hands full with Eusine, I'm afraid, and you need to have years of experience and either overwhelming skill with Pokémon or some other talent. In Eusine's case that talent happens to be in his wallet. In my case, I can occasionally see things that others cannot – call them latent psychic abilities if you wish. More importantly, I descend from a long line of holy men and women and have studied the rainbow-colored Pokémon more than anyone else. As a trainer, though... well, I'm good, but nowhere near the league of someone like Lance, or Wallace or Cy... the others."

"Right," Kris said awkwardly. "I was going to ask for an autograph, though."

"Oh," Morty said, but quickly recovered from this and signed the picture Kris had handed to him. "Sure thing."

"Thanks," Kris said as she carefully took the picture back from Morty, holding it with the same care she had held the GS Ball. "So, can we really battle?"

"Of course," Morty said. "I believe battling you will bring me one step closer to being worthy of Ho-Oh's honor. _But_ , I have one condition – I get to choose the terms of combat. One Pokémon each, no time limit – acceptable?"

"Of course," Kris said, though she was confused. Morty hadn't made any gestures to take out any Poké Balls from anywhere, and his pants had no pockets. "Uh, don't you need-?"

Morty shook his head. "My ghost-type Pokémon roam free here at the gym," he proclaimed as he folded his arms. "They come when they are called. Gengar, I choose you!"

Kris had to suppress an impressed gasp when she saw a dark purple ghost-type Pokémon emerge from the shadows as if it was thin air, having glowing red eyes and a sinister grin on its face. The Gengar took its position on the battlefield, and both it and Morty waited for Kris to make her move.

_Okay, he's a ghost-type expert, that I know. I've studied his techniques, too, I've seen him battle on TV dozens of times. So, I should use Murkrow! But he probably faces dark-types all the time, I'm sure he has some move to deal with them. Lampent, then? No, it's too slow and weak to Gengar's moves, so that leaves..._

_Please let this work._

"Croc, go!"

Kris sent out her Croconaw, and couldn't help but to smile proudly as it didn't dance or flail around disobediently. It simply gave out a battle roar and readied itself for battle. Kris decided not to waste a second and made the first move:

"Croc, Water Gun!"

"Gengar, dodge and use Shadow Claw!"

As Kris had seen many times before, the Gengar was unbelievably fast, moving faster than Kris' eyes could keep up. It leaped out of the attack's way with ease and moved in on Croc in a second, striking the Big Jaw Pokémon with its glowing claws. That attack alone did a great deal of damage, but now Gengar was close.

"Croc, Headbutt!"

The moment the words left Kris' lips was the moment she realized she had screwed up. Croc simply passed through the gaseous Gengar, leaving itself wide open for a counter-attack.

"Gengar, Hypnosis!"

Kris bit her lip as she watched Gengar release black, glowing circles towards Croc that first made it dizzy, then caused it to tumble on the floor. Fortunately, Morty didn't start lecturing Kris about type matchups – Kris was already berating herself internally.

"Wake up, Croc!"

"Gengar, Dream Eater!"

As expected, Croc continued to be under the thrall of Hypnosis, while Gengar started sucking its energy. Fortunately, this attack snapped Croc out of it and allowed it to get back into the battle.

"Yes! Croc, Bite!"

_It's all or nothing now. Gengar is frail, I've seen it, so I just have to-_

"Shadow Ball!" Morty ordered.

Before Croc even got to speed, Gengar had already materialized a sizzling black ball of energy between its hands and send it flying towards it. Croc was too slow to dodge and was hit in the face with the Shadow Ball, which knocked it out. Sighing mournfully, Kris returned the Pokémon.

"Thanks anyway, Croc," Kris said to the Poké Ball, smiling sadly as she pocketed it.

"Good work, Gengar," Morty praised the Pokémon, which smiled at its owner before slipping back into the shadows. "And thanks for the battle, Kris. It honestly lasted longer than I expected. Had you used Bite instead of Headbutt there, you may have actually given Gengar some trouble."

"I know," Kris moaned. "I should have – I don't know what I was thinking. I just thought I'd just go for Croc's most powerful attack without realizing who I was fighting against. I kinda lost it – I don't know how you stay cool all the time."

"Believe me, I'm a big old pressure cooker underneath it all," Morty quipped. "But yes, keeping cool in battle is one of the most important things a trainer must do. They must accept the fact that both them and their Pokémon might lose, and in worst situations, that them and their Pokémon might suffer, or even die. You have to know every kind of strategy you can think of _before_ starting the battle – there's no time for error once you're actually in the thick of it. You have to know which move to use and be ready to do the complete opposite if the situation warrants it. And most importantly – you must have fun and enjoy even in the face of loss."

The last part made Kris smile a little. "I am happy you battled me, though," she said softly. "And thanks for the quick lesson, too."

"It was my pleasure," Morty said as he bowed again. "Please, step on the warp pad and you'll be returned to the entrance. I'm afraid I have lots of work to do."

**~o~O~o~**

Having said her goodbyes to Morty and vowing to come back to the Ecruteak Gym before the end of her journey, Kris left the gym. But surprises just wouldn't end for that day, as a small but familiar smiling figure squeed in delight upon seeing her and hugged her before Kris could raise her hand to make a meek greeting.

"Glomp!" Iris gushed as Kris stood awkwardly again – why did she always have to hug? "I knew it! I knew you were here!"

"Mgwhm!"

"Oh, you're so emotional you can't even talk!"

"It's not that," Kris mumbled as Iris finally let go. "Some of your hair just got in my mouth. Pthoo!"

"Oh... sorry," Iris said slightly less cheerfully. "Do you think I should cut it?"

"No, it looks, uh, it suits you," Kris said quickly, founding herself smiling despite the devastating loss. "It's, um, good to see you... I guess?"

"You're getting better at this," Iris said with a grin. "Oh my gosh, I want to hear _everything you've done_ since we met!"

"It has only been a couple of-"

"Hold that thought!" Iris chattered and suddenly spoke into her PokéGear in a more serious tone. "Found her, she's in front of the gym – no one else in the vicinity."

Kris wanted to ask what was going on, but was cut off mb an ever-loudening rumbling sound and focused her attention to the rusty gray van speeding from behind the gym, pulling over directly in front of Kris and Iris, almost flattening Kris' toes as Iris pulled her back a bit. The van's side door was opened, and Kris found herself staring at another familiar face: Leaf, who didn't say anything, just motioned for Kris to hop in.

"The crud is going on?" Kris wondered. "This isn't-"

"Come on, Kris, we're in a hurry," Iris said as she nudged Kris towards the van.

"I don't-"

"I'll explain later, we need to move!" a rough voice yelled from the van's interiors.

Kris was just bewildered, but neither Iris nor Leaf had given any reasons to doubt the, so she let out a sigh of resignation and nodded. She gave her hand to Leaf, who pulled Kris into the van. Iris managed to just jump in when the car started moving, and a large hand suddenly appeared to close the door.

The van drove through the streets of Ecruteak, sharply turning around the gym and speeding past confused pedestrians. Kris looked around the van, grabbing a handle near the ceiling. There were lab equipment, computers and radio devices, along with piles of notes, scattered all over, some of the papers flying around carelessly as the car drove at reckless speed towards an unknown destination.

"Welcome to our moving laboratory, Kris!" said the rough-voiced man who had closed the door, revealing himself to be Blaine, instantly recognizable from his sunglasses, lab coat and unnaturally thick mustache.

Kris just nodded in acknowledgment and peeked into the car's driver's seat, smiling widely at the driver once she recognized the tall, thin man also wearing a lab coat and thick glasses.

"Professor Elm!" Kris sputtered. "I thought I'd never see you outside the lab!"

"Good to see you," Elm said quickly, though Kris could sense anxiety from his expression and he focused entirely on the road. "Sorry about the bumpy ride, I can't remember the last time I drove – Blaine's van isn't exactly built for these situations."

"Don't insult my baby!" Blaine growled, but soon laughed it off and slapped Elm on the shoulder, almost causing the car to crash as Elm practically jumped in his seat. "Now that we have everyone on board, get to the Bell Tower. Step on it!"

"I already ' _stepped on it',"_ Elm grumbled. "I swear, if someone _is_ chasing us, they'll catch us in the time it takes this car to switch to another gear."

"Moving laboratory?" Kris asked Blaine, who walked around excitedly around the constantly shaking van as if it was nothing. "For what?"

Before Blaine could answer, he let out a cry of pain and grasped his left hand, the one covered by a black glove. Elm glanced at Blaine with the rear view mirror, but had no time to stop and help him. Leaf and Iris shot concerned looks at him, but were obviously as clueless as Kris.

"Explain to her," Blaine rasped at Iris and Leaf as he stumbled to the passenger seat and opened the glove compartment, doing something out of sight.

"Right, first off, hi Kris!" Iris said happily. "Is it true you helped Eusine free the Slowpoke? And competed in the Whirl Cup? I'm so sorry I didn't come with you, but-"

"Iris," Leaf said tensely.

"Right, matter at hand," Iris babbled and took a deep breath before assuming a more professional tone. "Kris, we might have a lead on Mewtwo's location."

"We've been monitoring radio communications between Legendary Pokémon Society members," Leaf clarified, seated by a radio and holding large earphones close to her head. "The one called Eusine and some monks. They said there's a situation at the Bell Tower, which is in the northeastern part of the city. That Morty will no doubt get there any minute now and we must be there before-."

"Okay, first," Kris interrupted. "How do you know this Mewtwo thing is here?"

"Blaine says he knows," Leaf said with a shrug. "But he's a bit too crazy for us to take his word for it," she added under her breath.

"We mean it with love!" Iris chipped in.

"Anyway, it's not just his word, though," Leaf exposited. "Professor Elm borrowed us some equipment that located a huge amount of psychic energy coming from this town. This is pretty normal for a population center of this size, especially one with a lot of ghost-type trainers, but today, there was a spike that put this town's rating above Goldenrod's!"

"Eusine mentioned your name in his transmission, so we figured that as long as Kris is in town, she should come along!" Iris chirped. "And I wanted to see you again."

"Me too," Elm added from the driver's seat.

Kris felt both pleased and embarrassed, so she quickly continued on track:

"So why don't we co-operate with the LPS? Isn't this kind of thing exactly what they're supposed to do?"

"No!" yelled Blaine, and Kris flinched when the man's face was inches away from hers. "I agree Mewtwo is dangerous and has to be stopped, but they will not hesitate to use lethal force against it. I can't stand that."

Elm gave his own two cents: "It, ah, it may be the only way!"

Blaine didn't respond to Elm, just frowned even more as he rubbed his gloved hand. Kris could swear she saw it twitching a bit.

"How much further?" Blaine grunted at Elm.

"Well, um, if that light stays green – crap!"

"Damn it," Blaine whispered.

"Is it okay now?" Iris asked Leaf, who nodded, much to Iris' delight. "Yay! So, Kris, tell me now, what did you do? Were the rumors true?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Kris said uncertainly, wondering how much truth she could tell. "I helped save the Slowpoke, which scored me some major points with those LPS guys. I even met Lance!"

Blaine grumbled something incoherent, but Kris ignored him.

Iris' eyes went wide. "The Indigo League Champion?"

"Uh huh. I met Leaf at this Miltank ranch after there was some trouble with Shrew – but don't worry!" Kris added quickly when Iris looked concerned. "It's fine now. I went to see this Pokémon expert in Cianwood and visited a pharmacy, that... huh. The medicine..."

"What's that?"

"Nothing. Then I competed in the Whirl Cup. I'm sure you saw the headlines already."

"Indeed," Elm remarked as he tapped the steering wheel impatiently, stuck in another red light. "A New Barkian won the tournament! I didn't think Lyra had it in her. She's pretty amazing and – oh, uh, congratulations for coming in eighth place, Kris."

"Yeah, they listed the top eight competitors in the paper and we saw your name there," Iris said. "I honestly thought you'd give up somewhere en route to Goldenrod!"

"Say what? You saw me fight Falkner!"

"That's exactly why," Iris smirked. "C'mon, Kris, I'm just teasing you! That's awesome! One of these days I'm going to see what you've learned myself."

"You're on," Kris said, hesitated a little, and added: "You know, Iris, y-"

"Hold on!" Elm yelled.

Iris, Leaf and Blaine all managed to grab something and hold steady as Elm hit the brakes, coming to a screeching halt which sent Kris tumbling on the van's floor. Fortunately, Iris and Leaf pulled her up almost immediately.

Kris was about to give her opinion about Elm's driving, but the rest of the gang had already opened the van's door and jumped out, forcing Kris to follow.

The van had pulled over in front of a gatehouse leading towards a small trail surrounded by the most beautiful trees in Johto. The Bell Tower could mostly be seen amidst the trees, leaving the city in its shadow. Kris couldn't even see what exactly was at the top, and had no time to ask either, as the others marched towards the gatehouse, where a monk stood blocking the front door.

"Halt," the monk said dramatically. "The Bell Tower has been closed from audience until further notice. I'm afraid you have to-"

Blaine walked casually to the monk, grabbed him by the shoulders and kneed him in the stomach. As the monk doubled over, Blaine struck him in the neck, knocking him out. The others voiced their shock, Elm doing it rather meekly.

"You hit a monk!" Iris gasped, pointing at the unconscious holy man. "Is he going to be-?"

"He'll be fine, and besides, the Almighty forgives," Blaine grunted, holding up his gloved hand. "Blame it on the Evil Hand Syndrome!"

Kris noticed the hand wasn't twitching anymore, though.

"Kris, you, Iris and Elm will go first," Blaine ordered. "You know that Eusine guy, so he might tell us what's going on. If not to you, he'll do it for me. Leaf, help me get some of the equipment off the van!"

"Was, uh, punching him really that necessary?" Elm asked quietly as he crouched over the monk, checking his pulse just in case.

"Hey, these guys have been trained in every possible kind of self-defense!" Blaine countered. "And say what you will, but I don't trust them at all. We'll be the ones to capture Mewtwo, and _no one_ has to get hurt."

"'Cept him," Leaf remarked, gesturing at the monk.

Kris still wasn't sure what was going on and what the urgency was about, but followed Iris and Elm inside the gatehouse. They encountered no resistance inside and soon got through the exit, coming to the Bellchime Trail, a path littered with colorful leaves and surrounded by trees growing so thick that the rest of the city was effectively blocked off.

The three jogged closer and closer to the Bell Tower, which grew more and more ominous as the trio approached it. Finally, at the very foot of the tower, Eusine and a trio of older-looking monks in unusually colorful robes stood near the entrance, Eusine gazing up restlessly and yelling something to the monks before he noticed someone was coming.

"Kris!" Eusine shouted in surprise. "I thought you'd go lonely without me. What are you-"

"Shut up and answer my question!" Kris snapped.

"How am I supposed to do both?"

"Okay, answer my question and _then_ shut up!"

"You haven't asked it yet!"

Kris groaned. "What's happening over here?"

"The crystal bell at the top of the tower just rang!" Eusine proclaimed as he dramatically pointed at the sky. "Legends say this is where the mythical rainbow-colored Pokémon, Ho-Oh, roosts, and that the crystal bell only rings if the mythical Pokémon returns. No one has heard the bell ring in fifty years! I called Morty in to check it out – and if Ho-Oh truly is here, then Suicune can't be far behind either."

"Um, based on what?" Elm asked curiously as he pushed up his glasses.

Eusine turned to look at Iris and Elm smugly as if he just noticed them, making a face like they were dirt under his unnecessarily expensive shoes.

"Oh, right," Kris said. "Eusine, this is Iris, and this Professor Elm, we're here to, uh... line?"

"Help you out!" Iris chimed in. "We've heard so much about the magnificent Eusine!"

"Oh, have you seen my magic show?" Eusine asked, suddenly interested in Iris. "Well, I would be blushing if this didn't happen wherever I go. But it's always nice to meet a fan – say, what's that behind your ear?"

Not waiting for Iris' reply, he reached out towards her head and pulled a photograph seemingly from out of nowhere. Kris facepalmed as she realized it was a signed photo of Eusine himself, but Iris seemed quite pleased.

"Thanks!" she said, though she threw the picture away as soon as Eusine looked away. "Now, what's this link between Ho-Oh and Suicune, then?"

Eusine cleared his throat. "Three hundred years ago, lightning struck the Brass Tower, which is now the kitschy tourist trap known as the Burned Tower. Three Pokémon were living in the tower at the time, along with the silver-feathered Pokémon Lugia that roosted there. The tower burned down and Lugia fled, as did Ho-Oh, but not before reviving the three Pokémon that had perished in the fire. Those three Pokémon were reborn as the legendary beasts Raikou, Entei and..." Eusine sighed wistfully. "Suicune. Owing Ho-Oh their lives, the three beasts dedicated their lives to serving its wishes."

"Master Eusine, please," one of the three monks urged.

"Right-o, Brody I'm sure Mort will find here himself," Eusine said. "Oh, everyone, this is the Wise Trio. They're the right-hand of our society's leader and the head of this order. Their names are Allen, Tim and Brody."

"Broderick."

"Yeah, sure," Eusine said and pulled an old-fashioned skeleton key from his pocket as dramatically as possible. "Anyway, since Morty is away, _I'm_ the one in charge, and I have the key to the Bell Toweaaaaaaaahhh!"

Without warning, a freezing gust of wind blew across the Bellchime Trail, forcing everyone to shield their faces. Keeping one eye open, Kris saw the wind blowing the key off Eusine's hand.

The wind stopped as abruptly as it had begun, and the cause soon made itself clear. The entire group stared slack-jawed at the figure standing on a ledge above the Bell Tower's front door. It was not a Pokémon, but it didn't look human either. It was clad in a long black cloak that floated around in the wind as if it was made of gas, had extremely long and fluffy white hair and obscured its face with a blue mask with a permanently grinning face painted on it in strange markings.

" _Why, thank you_!" the figure spoke in a commanding, yet somewhat stretched voice. " _This would have certainly made my job easier, though – do any of you have the slightest idea how hard it is to climb on top of that tower? Still, it was worth every drop of sweat it took – the view was magnificent._ "

The group just stared, Eusine making weak, high-pitched noises, grasping the air pathetically. The cloaked figure erupted in a cackling, hysterical laughter.

" _Oh, I must admit_ ," it said amidst the laughs. " _Your first reaction was one of the best I've gotten so far! By the way, you didn't need that huge crystal bell up there, did you_?"

For further dramatic effect, the figure tossed a piece of crystal marked with cryptic engravings on the ground in front of the group.

"D-did you ring the bell?" Kris asked, being the first to get her voice back, though it wasn't easy – it felt like the temperature in the area had dropped below zero Celsius in the middle of summer.

" _What can I say? I love spectacles. You see, I had a date all planned for today and got bored waiting for her._ _And I figured this way, I'd get to meet both her_ and _the famous Legendary Pokémon Society at the same time._ "

"Well, you've met them!" Eusine yelled and took out a Poké Ball, holding it between his index finger and middle finger. "I don't care who you are or where you bought your costume, but unless you give me back that key, you're about to feel the wrath of the Leg- _"_

The eyes on the figure's mask suddenly lit up, turning bright white. With that, it whipped up another freezing gust of wind that was powerful enough to toss everyone about – everyone but Eusine, whose cape blew up on his face and made him fall and start struggling frantically.

" _As I said, I can't wait for the Legendary Pokémon Society to get here! While we wait, though, I'm ready to meet my date..._ "

A bony arm emerged from the depths of the figure's cloak, pointing directly at Kris, whose eyes widened in shock.

" _...you_."

"W-what?" Kris stuttered. "I don't... I don't even know w-who you are!"

" _Where_ are _my manners. You may call me The Masked Man._ _And I want one simple thing – a certain gold and silver Poké Ball you're carrying. Be a good girl and hand it over. I wouldn't want to have to pry it off your frozen corpse – that tends to be so messy_."

"What is he talking about?" Iris wondered.

"The GS Ball," Kris muttered, staring at the Masked Man, who continued pointing at Kris. "Kurt gave it to me in Azalea Town, asked me to deliver it to this guy at the Whirl Islands. And _he_ asked me to bring it to Mahogany Town. All I know is that it's very important."

" _We can do this the hard way, too – I kill someone here one at a time until you give the GS Ball to me. But I'd hate to do that now that you've gotten_ so _far... Kris_."

Kris gulped, but was spared from answering as Eusine finally got his cloak back in order and pulled himself back on his feet. His usually tidy hair looked frenzied and his eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets as he glared at the Masked Man. Kris was quite impressed – she figured he'd have pissed himself by now.

"Okay, this is just freaking ridiculous!" Eusine ranted. " _No one_ messes with my style! Electrode, go!"

Eusine tossed the Poké Ball he was carrying at the Masked Man, and his Electrode emerged, grinning triumphantly and ready to battle.

"Electrode, Thunderbo-"

But the Masked Man pointed his open palm at the Electrode, firing a blue beam at the Electrode that froze the Pokémon in a solid block of ice within seconds. Kris shuddered as she felt the effects of the attack even from where she was standing.

As Eusine stared at his Electrode in horror, the smirk still on its face, the Masked Man hopped off the ledge, prompting everyone to back down several feet. Kris couldn't see the figure's feet, but the grass died and the land froze beneath him.

" _Ah, you're saying you wish to be the first to go_ ," the Masked Man said, Eusine trying to back down and tripping on his cape again. " _I was hoping that. Just stand still and think of what a great statue you'll make – the people of Ecruteak will always remember you, seeing your pained expression forever frozen on your face_!"

Eusine close his eyes, the Masked Man raised his hand... and a shadowy blob of energy emerged from the woods, striking the Masked Man and sending him flying into the trees and out of sight.

A familiar Gengar soon emerged from the woods, followed by Morty, who was thankfully wearing clothes this time. He ran to Eusine and helped him stand up. Eusine thanked by muttering indignantly.

"Yeah, you're welcome," Morty said tersely. "All of you!" he shouted at Kris, Iris, Elm and the Wise Trio. "Get out of here, quick!"

The Wise Trio didn't have to be told twice and they rushed back towards the gatehouse, as their martial arts training and meager Pokémon skills did little against such an opponent. Eusine and Professor Elm followed suit, leaving Kris and Iris still hesitating.

"Morty, you don't know what this guy can do!" Iris yelled. "I mean, you don't know if this thing is a human at all! I'll back you up with Kris."

"Um, sure, we'll back you," Kris said. "It's just that... you use dragons, Iris. This guy can shoot Ice Beams from his hands!"

"Did you forget Excadrill?" Iris asked.

But before Iris could grab Excadrill's Poké Ball, Morty grabbed her by the arm. Under Morty's strict glare, Iris gave in and nodded. She and Kris charged towards the main gatehouse, leaving Morty to deal with the threat.

At the gatehouse, however, Kris and Iris merely bumped into the others, who stood petrified in place, watching the two enormous Pokémon that had blocked the exit leading back to the city. They both stood about eight feet tall, the other one being brown with thick fur and enormous tusks, and the other one resembling a thick tree covered in snow with a menacing face. Iris finally let Excadrill out of its Poké Ball to prepare for the fight, while Kris took the opportunity to scan the two Pokémon.

" _Abomasno_ _w, the Frost Tree Pokémon_ " SkrillDex reported of the tree-like Pokémon. " _Types: Ice and Grass – would you have guessed?_ _It is the evolved form of Snover, a Pokémon found mostly in the Sinnoh and Kalos regions. With its ability, Snow Warning, it can create blizzards from practically nothing._ "

Kris then scanned the one with tusks.

" _Mamoswine, the Twin Tusk Pokémon. Types: Ice and Ground. It is the fully evolved form of Swinub, a species that is over 10 000 years old. It weighs 640 pounds and can run at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour._ "

"Gee, ice-types, wonder who could have done that," Kris muttered.

But the two ice-types had no time to attack, as a voice suddenly shouted: "Petal Dance!"

A wind of magical, pink leaves suddenly erupted, tossing even the heavyweight Mamoswine about like a deflated balloon. The Abomasnow was distracted, so Iris ordered Excadrill to use Metal Claw against it, knocking it out as well.

The source of the Petal Dance soon arrived to the scene – it was Leaf, along with a Bellossom, Oddish's _other_ fully evolved form, achieved by using a Sun Stone on a Gloom. She waved cheerfully at the others, who responded meekly.

"See, I don't have to scan _everything_ ," Kris muttered to SkrillDex, though the machine did not respond.

" _Never send a Pokémon to do a man's job_ ," a booming voice suddenly called, and just like that, the temperature inside the gatehouse dropped rapidly. The others turned to the Bellchime Trail exit, watching The Masked Man holding an unconscious and battered Morty with one hand. The Man roughly dropped the gym leader, but no one dared approach to help him. " _Oh, pardon me, I figured you'd probably want this. His little wisp is over here somewhere, too._ _My, my, the state of our current gym leaders is pitiful. Quite unlike back in my day._ _Now, little Kris, will you hand me the GS Ball, or do I have to turn this place into a pile of kindl_ -"

"Fire Blast!"

A scorching, all-consuming 大-shaped blast of orange fire flew towards The Masked Man, forcing him to stop his ranting and extend both his arms to absorb the attack. The attacker was a Magmar, appearing through a hole the Fire Blast had burned into the wall.

" _Oh, that's right, use fire against the guy who can manipulate ice_ ," the Masked Man chuckled. " _How predictable._ "

The Masked Man whipped up another gust of wind, except this time it came with snow. The small-scale blizzard swept through the entire gatehouse, blocking everyone's vision with snow and throwing the Magmar out of the gatehouse.

But the Man had forgotten to watch his back, and turned around as he heard the sound of a shotgun being cocked from behind him. Blaine was standing sternly behind the Masked Man, only a few feet away from him, his 12-gauge shotgun pointed at the Man's "head".

"You did not just do that," Blaine growled at him.

" _Oh, it's you, Dr. Blaine, how could I have forgotten_ ," the Man said evenly. " _A failed scientist and failed gym leader only known for his brute-force tactics, and he thinks he can stop me?_ _I'm glad you're here, though – you may even get to see my surprise_."

"Or I can just shoot you," Blaine said.

" _Nah_ ," the Man simply said.

The Man raised his arm and Blaine prepared to pull the trigger – but the shotgun had already been frozen solid, forcing Blaine to drop it with a pained yowl.

" _You_ _can't,_ " the Man finished.

The Masked Man grabbed Blaine by his collar, which froze the moment he had touched it. With one graceful swing, Blaine was tossed into the gatehouse directly at Elm, who barely caught the man but fell under his weight.

"That's it!" sage Broderick of the Wise Trio suddenly yelled. "You come to our town, desecrate our sacred buildings, assault our gym leader and terrorize our population. This ends here!"

Broderick pulled out a short machete he had hidden somewhere in his robes, and his comrades pulled out similar weapons, then charged at the Masked Man, who remained perfectly still, countering the Wise Trio's attacks with his bare "hands", though the trio didn't give up and kept attacking him.

Taking advantage of this opening, Kris and Iris glanced at each other, then made a mad dash towards the unconscious Morty and dragged him away from the battle, while Elm, who was finally back on his feet, did the same to Blaine. Leaf and her Bellossom rushed over to the wounded fighters, inspecting them both.

"He didn't kill them," Leaf said bluntly. "Kind of strange – it's what I would have done."

"He wants that GS something," Iris said. "He figures that if he kills anyone here, we'll grow desperate and refuse to give it up – even this guy is not invulnerable."

"What should I do?" Kris asked anxiously, finding it hard to breathe and her heart kept pounding almost painfully. "S-should I give it up? I don't want anyone to get hurt!"

"No!" Leaf said firmly. "I don't know what that is, exactly, but if a guy like that wants it so bad – well, it won't be happy times for anyone. Besides, once he get what he wants, he'll have no reason to keep us alive."

"I, uh, agree with Leaf," Elm said – he was sweating and his voice was higher than usual, but he didn't lose his composure. He took a syringe from his pocket and calmly injected Blaine with it. "I have something that'll get him back on his feet."

"And I'll take care of Morty," Leaf said. "Bellossom?"

The grass-type Pokémon nodded cheerfully and practically floated over to Morty, holding its little "hands" above the gym leader. Kris and Iris just stared as gold-colored pollen was released, floating above Morty for a few seconds. Then, with a gasp followed by some violent coughing, Morty came to, though he still didn't open his eyes and communicated by groaning. Blaine came to slowly as well, while Eusine had buried his face with his cape and was just leaning to the wall in a fetal position, shaking and whimpering.

"There, everything's fine," Iris said breathlessly. "Kris, you have to join the fight."

"I can't!" Kris wailed. "You saw what happened to Morty – and that guy just trounced me earlier. What chances do I have? Besides, Croc is still weak and there's no way Shrew, Shuckie or Murkrow can take this guy on."

"Well, don't you have that ghost-type?" Iris pleaded.

"Yeah, but... I can't do it! What will it help, anyway? Lampent will just get defeated like the rest and then he'll kill us all! We are going to d-"

Taking a deep breath, Iris suddenly slapped Kris across the face, silencing her for a moment. Kris rubbed her cheek and just stared at Iris in confusion.

"Sorry," Iris said with a nervous smile. "I haven't ever done this before and they always do that to panicking people in the movies. But listen!" she shouted, grabbing Kris by the shoulders. "Everything counts! Whatever we can do, we _have_ to do! We have to fight!"

Kris inhaled deeply as well. Nodding nervously, she took Lampent's Poké Ball from her belt and opened it, releasing the ghost-type, which had beefed itself up considerably as Kris had fought the random trainers en route to Ecruteak.

"I'll help too," Leaf said, opening a Poké Ball attached to her bag.

She set out a Rapidash, a large, regal-looking horse Pokémon with a sharp horn, its mane and tail made of orange, constantly burning flames.

But the Masked Man had swiftly taken care of the Wise Trio, who were now scattered all over the gatehouse, barely conscious and battered as badly as Morty, some covered in frostbites.

" _Wow, how many LPS members I've mowed down now?_ " the Man bragged. _"Five, counting that guy in that stupid suit?_ _This day has been a gigantic disappointment, I tell you that."_

"Why," Leaf suddenly asked, standing up with her fists clenched, "do you have to be such an asshole?"

" _It's not like I have to be. It's not in the job requirement – I just threw it in for fun. Why do you care, anyway? Do you want to be the next person whimpering on the ground and losing control of their bowel movements?_ "

"You don't remember me?" Leaf asked, her voice suddenly turning shaky.

" _Hmm... no. You do look like one of the people I've killed, but there have been_ so _many. Do you expect to keep a scrapbook of them or something? Besides, if I'm as bad a guy_ _as_ _you claim I am, let Arceus smite me down where I stand_!"

With that proclamation, as the Masked Man stood there with his arms spread, a bolt of lightning tore through the gatehouse's roof and struck him directly, causing an explosion that covered the gatehouse with smoke. Leaf ducked and quickly covered her face, Kris and Iris once again dashing to pull her away from the Man.

As the smoke subsided, the Masked Man somehow still stood there, his attention focused on the brand new hole in the ceiling. The others looked up too – a tall man with red spiky hair wearing a dark cape stood dramatically on the roof, and standing next to him was a Dragonite Kris had seen on TV countless times.

"Lance!" Iris gasped.

" _Oh, good, I was wondering when the_ real _fighting force would show up,_ " the Man said, though less calmly than before. " _Too bad you didn't prevent me from internally messing up your little henchme-_ "

"Hyper Beam!" Lance ordered.

Dragonite opened its mouth and quickly charged up energy, then released a blinding white beam of energy towards the Masked Man, hitting him almost instantaneously. A normal human would have been vaporized, but the Masked Man was thrown across the room, hitting the opposite wall, tangling himself in his flowing black cloak.

"Now's our chance!" Leaf yelled. "Rapidash, Fire Blast!"

"Excadrill, Rock Slide!"

"Lampent, Flamethrower!"

The Masked Man barely had time to stand upright again when the three powerful attacks hit him, together causing an even more powerful explosion than before. Even at the opposite corner of the gatehouse, Kris could feel the heat of the blast burning her skin, having to shield her eyes as dust and debris were knocked everywhere.

The group had to wait for the smoke to clear again, witnessing a crater where the Masked Man had just been, the Man himself at the bottom of it, still moving and in one piece. Though he was covered in dust and his cloak had torn from several places, he looked unharmed on the outside, but instead of attacking or bragging like before, he was shuddering and struggling to stand.

Lance hopped on his Dragonite's back, and the two flew into the gatehouse, landing next to the Wise Trio members, working on them one by one. Injecting them with similar syringes that Elm had used on Blaine, he nodded at them curtly as they got back on their feet, though with some problems. Then, Lance made his way to Kris and the group. Even though they had the won the battle, Kris felt oddly uncomfortable as Lance's face was cold and expressionless. Worse yet, she was painfully aware that she was covered in ash and dust.

"How is everyone?" Lance asked quickly, wasting no time for introductions.

"Um... Morty will probably need a doctor," Leaf muttered. "The rest of us will probably be fine, right guys?"

"It's gonna take more than that to get rid of me," Blaine grumbled, holding his head.

"Mr. Lance, sir, um," Iris started, stammering a bit when Lance looked at her, being over a foot taller than her. "If you don't mind me asking, who is this... Masked Man?"

"He's also known as the Mask of Ice among the International Police," Lance explained. "I didn't believe he existed before this – there were sightings of a figure like that in Orre, Fiore, Almia, Hoenn, Kanto and even Kalos, reports of strange murders by freezing. To think he was real, however..."

" _Very good_!" the Masked Man suddenly exclaimed, prompting everyone to turn at his direction. " _But I didn't come this far to back down now. I offered you the chance of giving me the GS Ball and live – but it looks like my optimism failed me again. Dr. Blaine – take a good look! The surprise is on its way_."

Before anyone could stop him, the Masked Man raised his arms and shouted: " _Come forth and destroy these pests!_ "

A bright blue light appeared from the hole in the ceiling, and something enveloped by a blue glow floated slowly down. It was a bipedal, purple Pokémon, vaguely feline with a disproportionately large head supported by tubes sticking out of its neck. It also had a strikingly long purple tail that reminded Kris of a picture she had seen not too long ago – the picture Blaine had shown her.

 _Oh, crap_.

"Blaine!" Kris gasped at the scientist. "Is that-?"

But Blaine was not fit to answer, because as soon as the new Pokémon had arrived, he had clutched his arm and started yelling in pain. The Pokémon had landed and stopped glowing, though its eyes still retained the pale blue glow. The Masked Man chuckled.

" _Don't you remember Pokémon #150 anymore, Blaine? This is Mewtwo, a Pokémon created five years ago at the Cinnabar Lab – it is one of the most powerful in existence, dwarfing even Mew with it power._ "

" _Mewtwo, my dear. Can you feel that? The man who brought you to this world and caused you all that pain is here, along with some friends. Destroy them, but take it easy on the girl with black hair – I need her belongings to stay intact_."

"Dragonite, use Dragon Claw!" Lance ordered.

Dragonite's claws started glowing, and even with its mass, it advanced quickly at Mewtwo, but with a simple gesture of its hands, it created an invisible barrier that absorbed the attack, allowing it to jump out of the way. Then, it squeezed its three, ball-shaped fingers together, and Dragonite started glowing pale blue. It cried out in pain and shut its eyes tight, and just by moving its hand, Mewtwo was able to lift the Dragonite in the air quickly. It made it collide with the ceiling, then let go of it, dropping it roughly on the ground and knocking it out.

As Lance returned the Dragonite, Leaf hopped gracefully on her Rapidash's back.

"Kris, Iris!" she said. "I'll attack from the left, then you two flank him! Got it?"

Leaf didn't stick around for a reply, but rode on her Rapidash towards Mewtwo. Leaf ordered Rapidash to use Horn Drill and the Rapidash's horn started spinning rapidly. Kris and Iris ordered their Pokémon to charge too, Iris telling Excadrill to use Slash and Kris ordering Lampent to use Shadow Ball.

But Mewtwo quickly grabbed Rapidash by the horn and lifted in the air, causing Leaf to fall off its back. It used Rapidash as a shield to absorb the Shadow Ball attack, then tossed it away. It then created a brown orb of energy with its other hand and threw it at Excadrill with incredible speed, knocking it out with one hit as well.

Lampent was the only one left fighting now. Kris ran to support her Pokémon while Iris went to recall Excadrill and help out Leaf, who hadn't gotten up from the floor.

"Lampent, use Will-O-Wisp!" Kris ordered.

But Mewtwo retorted by launching a Shadow Ball attack at it before Lampent even registered the order. With one hit, Lampent was put out of commission as well. Lance sent out his next Pokémon, a Druddigon, for support.

" _Now use Psychic on the girl!_ " the Masked Man yelled.

Lance had to hold back as Kris was enveloped in a similar blue glow. Kris was overwhelmed with the pain – it was as if rusty iron shackles had surrounded her entire body and were crushing her, preventing her from talking or even breathing. Somehow, through the pain, she could hear everyone's muffled voices and felt her feet leaving the ground.

" _You, Lance, call off the Pokémon or I'll decorate the wall with her,_ " the Man said. " _Mewtwo, the bag, please_."

Concentrating its psychic abilities on the bag hanging on Kris' shoulder, it let go of Kris and dropped her on her back. The impact knocked the air out of her and she found herself gasping for air on the hard wooden floor, her ears still ringing and her vision blurry. She saw Mewtwo tossing the bag to the Masked Man, who rummaged through its contents, roughly tossing out her clothes, hygiene products, books, recovery items, food, empty Poké Balls and even SkrillDex, who protested with an angry mechanical beep. Finally, the GS Ball dropped on the Man's palm.

" _Finally_!" he exclaimed. " _We're done here at last, Mewtwo._ "

But the Masked Man's exuberant cheers were replaced by howls of anger as a powerful blast of water knocked the GS Ball out of his "hands".

" _Who the f**k dares?_ "

At the same time the stream had appeared, a faint ringing sound came to Kris' attention. The others jerked their heads around too in attempt to figure out the cause of the sound, except for Eusine, who finally snapped out of his funk and stood up like a Growlithe on the hunt.

"The small bells!" he yelled. "The ones at the bottom of the tower!"

"Um, wasn't Ho-Oh's bell destroyed?" Elm asked.

"Yes!" Eusine exclaimed. "Which means it must be..."

Ignoring the splitting pain in her back, Kris dragged her head up and leaned on her elbows, looking at the newest arrival at the exit leading to the Bellchime Trail. At last, the Pokémon she had spent years dreaming about was standing before her. The crystalline blue legendary beast with a long, flowing purple mane, glittering in the sunlight – Suicune.

Ignoring the Masked Man outright, Suicune leaped at Mewtwo, slashing it with the long white ribbons sticking out of it, then striking it with Ice Beam, freezing its hands.

Mewtwo attempted to retort with Psychic, but Suicune was simply too fast and leaped out of the way before hitting it point-blank with another Ice Beam, this one weakening Mewtwo considerably. The Masked Man was restlessly gazing around the room.

" _The GS Ball, Mewtwo_!" he bellowed. " _Where is it?_ "

"What, you mean this?" asked Lance, who was holding the ball between his fingers. "Don't worry, I'll hold onto it for you."

The Masked Man stared at him, his strange hands clenched in fists, while Mewtwo could only block Suicune's attacks, the beast being far too fast to get any kind of counterattack in.

" _Retreat_!" the Masked Man yelled at Mewtwo, who teleported away with a bright flash. " _And you_ ," he added, pointing at Kris. " _Don't think you're out clear yet, little girl. It doesn't matter where you go. If I'm not there myself, my forces_ will _root you out. I have this entire pathetic region under my thumb, and I'm ready to press down._ "

The Masked Man then whipped up another, small blizzard that covered him entirely, and a few seconds later, when the snow cleared, he was gone.

Suicune was still there, though, gazing at the group, as if it was anticipating for something. Though she couldn't tell for sure, Kris felt like the beast was looking directly at her.

_Or did that guy knock the sense out of me?_

"The Aurora Pokémon," Eusine said shakily. "The North Wind! The blue beast... thing. It has come for me, at last! Told you," he remarked at Kris before smugly smoothing out his hair and grabbing a Poké Ball. "I have waited ten years for this moment, Suicune. Prepare to be mine – Alakazam, go! Use Disable!"

Eusine sent out the psychic-type Pokémon, and it raised its spoons at Suicune, about to attack it. However, Suicune created an invisible wall in front of it, bouncing the Disable away, then let out an echoing, wailing roar unlike any Pokémon Kris had ever met. Alakazam's eyes widened in shock, and somehow, it turned itself back into energy and returned itself back into Eusine's Poké Ball. Eusine could only stare at the ball in shock.

"Alakazam! Hey, come out, you bastard! Suicune's-"

But Suicune was clearly fed up. With one incredible jump, it leaped out of the gatehouse through the hole Lance's Dragonite had created and disappeared from sight immediately, leaving Eusine dumbfounded, opening and closing his mouth like a Magikarp on dry land.

"Eusine!" Lance said harshly. "Members of the Legendary Pokémon Society do not attempt to capture legendary Pokémon. What's more, we were close to solving the Route 224 murder mystery, and you let it slip away. It was as if it was trying to tell us something..."

"With all due respect Mr. Lance," Kris said weakly, having to lean on the wall for support and keep her other eye closed, "I believe this should prove Suicune's innocence. It saved our lives just now."

Lance didn't look at Kris. "That is our concern, not yours. Professor Elm! Are you hurt?"

Elm pushed up his glasses nervously. "Oh, uh, no, not really."

"Then please see to it that Morty and your friends receive treatment," Lance said coldly.

"Yes, sir," Elm said and swung Blaine's arm over his shoulder – Blaine had apparently passed out from the pain. "Um, how exactly did you get here so fast?"

"The Wise Trio signaled me when Ho-Oh's bell rang," Lance said simply as he returned his Druddigon and walked towards the exit. "I was fortunate enough to be visiting Blackthorn City at the time. I have to discuss something with them now. What a shame it wasn't actually Ho-Oh..."

And with that, Lance and the Wise Trio left. Kris looked at the spot Suicune had stood when Eusine had attempted to capture it when something shiny caught her eye. Making sure no one was watching, Kris hobbled over to the shining object, every muscle in her body aching as she did so. Kris grabbed the object, finding it to be an unusually large feather, mostly golden but with all the colors of the rainbow faintly visible in the tip.

"Kris, the ambulance is coming!" Iris shouted, heading out of the gatehouse with the others. "Can you walk?"

"Coming," Kris muttered.

_Suicune... did you really come to see me?_

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Ecruteak City Hospital, several hours later** _

Kris had been quickly discharged, the doctor having just patched her injuries and prescribed some painkillers for her. At the moment, she was sitting in the waiting room along with Iris, who barely had a scratch on her, though her clothes and hair were still dirty – there was even a splinter sticking out of her hair, but Kris didn't want to embarrass her. Either way, Iris was happily chattering to her about the stuff she had been up to since they split and about Blaine and Elm's research, while Kris listened and occasionally spoke up, but concentrated mostly on Suicune and whatever the thing Suicune had left behind was.

"...managed to get rid of that weird tree thing near the National Park," Iris finished another story. "It was a frickin' Rock-type of all things!"

"Wow," Kris could only say. "Sounds like you've been through a lot. Sorry I missed it."

"Eh, you were preoccupied," Iris simply said, her smile fading as she struggled to find the right words. "Sorry I slapped you before."

"Hey, you did me a favor!" Kris assured. "I'm sorry for acting like that. Looks like my help didn't count for much."

Kris stared at the GS Ball she had failed to let go of since Lance had returned it to her. Iris gave it a curious glance as well.

"What do you think it is?" Iris asked.

"Well, it is pretty unique, even better than the Master Ball," Kris said, echoing Dr. Gideon's words. "But I haven't been able to open it – it's completely inert. Maybe that masked guy knows something about it that I don't. Oh, and it's made of... of..."

Iris stared at Kris. "Was that the end of it?"

Kris pulled the feather she had found from the gatehouse from her pocket and held it next to the GS Ball. Iris gasped.

"Where'd you get that?" she wondered.

"I think Suicune left it behind," Kris muttered. "And this guy told me that this ball was made from the feathers of Ho-Oh and Lugia. See any resemblances?"

"D-do you think that's one of Ho-Oh's feathers?" Iris whispered. "Why would Suicune have that?"

"I don't know," Kris mumbled as she put both safely back in her pocket – well, relatively safely. "But um, can I trust you not to spread this around? I don't want that creep Eusine finding out that I have something Suicune dropped with me."

"Cross my lips and hope to fry," Iris said. "No, wait..."

"I think I'm heading out to train a little," Kris said, rubbing her back a little – the effect of the first painkiller was already fading. "I know that the guys evaluating my progress are here in Ecruteak and I'm not leaving before I'll do something to impress those guys. I could, um, use a sparring partner. What do you say?"

Iris sighed and started rubbing his temples. "I was worried you'd ask..."

"Well, you were so insistent on going with me before," Kris said defensively, "I kinda figured you'd want to, you know, travel with me again."

"Sorry, but I have other commitments," Iris said. "No offense, but I'm not your sidekick. I'm not someone who'll just track _your_ progress and help _you_ evolve. I have other reasons to train – my own journey to get through. And on top of that, I still have to study."

Kris nodded. "I hope we see again – and I really mean it this time."

Iris smirked. "That didn't sound half bad."

"I'm getting there."

Soon enough, Professor Elm, who also survived the confrontation unharmed, no that he did much of note, walked to Kris and Iris, helping Blaine walk. Blaine was forced to resort to a his question mark -shaped cane for the time being.

"He refused to accept treatment to his hand," Elm said in a defeated tone.

"It doesn't even hurt anymore," Blaine grunted. "Anyway, Elm, Iris, I want to suggest something to you. And Leaf, if she agrees."

"Where is she, anyway?" Kris wondered.

"She came to when you were with the doctor," Iris explained, "she was apparently fine, so she went back to the van. Oh, she has your bag, by the way."

"Yes, your PokéDex took some damage there, and Leaf said she could fix it," Elm said. "By the way, how has it, um, worked out so far?"

"We need to talk about that one day," Kris said dangerously, though still with a hint of a smile. "But so far it hasn't tried to kill me – well so far it hasn't been successful. And I think we're making progress."

"At any rate," Blaine interrupted sharply, "you three should take care of ol' Betsy from now on."

"W-what do you mean us three?" Elm wondered.

"You saw what Mewtwo did. If it hadn't been for Suicune's fortunately timed arrival, they'd be scooping us into buckets. It didn't even hesitate to attack."

"Which is kind of why we shouldn't hold back," Elm argued, "it's a danger to all people. And their Pokémon!"

"No, we can take it alive!" Blaine said firmly. "I know it. But I have to be the one to do it. I can't place you in any further risk, and besides, I prepared a different task for you."

"Really?"

"The Masked Man," Blaine muttered. "You told me Leaf knows something about him, right?" he asked Elm, who nodded so furiously that his glasses almost dropped. "And Lance says they've sighted him before and that he has killed people. We can't let a threat like that be. The police are powerless against him. I want you three to get to the bottom of this. Find out who he is, where he gets his power and how we can strip him of it. You'll need to keep on the move to do that."

"You're going to hunt Mewtwo down on foot?" Iris asked. "How will you find it? And what happens when you do?"

"Leave that to me," Blaine smiled. "And I may have been mostly out of it, but I saw you fight, Iris. You'll be a tremendous help for us."

Iris smiled bashfully, but Elm didn't seem convinced.

"And the combined brains of you, Leaf and Elm here," Blaine told Iris as he put his hand on Elm's shoulder, "are more mighty than anything that scumbag can throw at us."

Kris started feeling uncomfortably lot like a fifth wheel, so she got up and wondered if she could slip by without any awkward goodbyes.

"And you!" Blaine said so suddenly and loudly that Kris flinched. "Thank you for joining us! It didn't go like I wanted, but it's still more than yesterday. You're gonna be a great trainer some day."

"Oh... thanks," Kris said awkwardly and cleared her throat. "Uh, by the way, did you see Morty or Eusine there?"

"Morty is conscious, but he has to spend the night here," Elm said as he corrected his glasses. "The doctor recommended three nights, but he said he wants to be at the gym by tomorrow. And practically the entire hospital staff has asked for his autograph by now," Elm added in amusement.

"Yeah, great, he has his ass handed to him and gets worshiped for it," Blaine grumbled. "What a hero."

"Yes, er, as for Eusine, he just vanished," Elm said contemplatively. "Probably after Suicune again."

"Just wondering," Kris said and smiled nervously. "It was, uh, good to see you all again. I'll just swing by the van and grab my stuff. Bye!"

Everyone said their goodbyes, both Iris and Blaine insisting to hug Kris before she went. Not a fan of the smell of hospitals, Kris left the building as fast as she could.

**~o~O~o~**

Inside the van, Leaf was using her PokéGear to talk to someone, sitting on her station, one leg casually placed over the other.

"...him for sure. We're probably going to go after him next, but I doubt we'll get much leads."

" _You said you were knocked out during the fight, though. How are you?_ "

"Like I said before, fine," Leaf said exasperatedly. "Really, for someone with such terrible people skills, you sure do worry a lot."

" _And for someone who trained with two of the strongest trainers in Kanto, your Pokémon sure fail a lot._ "

"Shove it," Leaf said, but couldn't help but to laugh a little. "Anyway, at least we know what the man is after – and who."

" _How is she?_ "

"For someone who has been marked for the rest of her life, fairly well. Either the shock hasn't worn off yet or she doesn't fully comprehend the situation. But as much as you like to claim how weak she and the rest are, they fought fairly well."

" _Luck. And the LPS was there helping them_. _As far I'm concerned, she's still a weakling._ _You... installed the thing we talked about, right_?"

"Of course, remember who you're talking to. Question is, what are you going to do with that info? Stalk her or something? Is she prettier than me, then?" she added with a chuckle.

" _No. And she's not my type, remember_?"

"Oh, sorry, how could I forget. We'll find someone for you, then. Would help you not be on such a bad mood all the time."

" _Whatever. One thing at a time, though._ "

"Right, I-"

The van's side door was suddenly opened and Leaf almost fell off her chair. She quickly turned off her PokéGear and assumed a normal face when Kris stepped into the van.

"Hi, Kris," she said evenly. "You're a healthy specimen, then?"

"Sure," Kris said with a frown. "Who were you talking to?"

"Professor Oak back in Kanto," Leaf said immediately. "He never shuts up, and I could use an excuse not to talk to him anymore. You probably want your bag back, huh? Your PokéDex's voice emulator was chipped when that guy manhandled your bag. Everything's here, though, so don't worry."

"You would have done me a favor by _not_ fixing it," Kris muttered as Leaf handed the bag back. "Anyway, thanks a lot, though. And good to see everything's here. I thought I'd have to run by the store to buy more pads..."

Kris turned around and was about to walk out of the van to avoid talking any more, but turned to look at Leaf just before heading off. **  
**

"Can I ask one thing, though?" she asked. "How did you know that Masked Man character?"

Kris regretted asking it when the question seemed to make Leaf feel bothered and she turned to look at her hands when she replied.

"I, uh, don't think I can tell you yet," she said quietly. "Mm, maybe later."

"Okay, I got it!" Kris said quickly and was hoping to leave as soon as possible. "I'm off to train now! Um, good luck and... yeah. Bye!"

**~o~O~o~**

On the outskirts of Ecruteak and at the route connecting the city to the National Park, Kris finally stopped walking and finally let Shrew out of its Poké Ball, having only let it out the day before to feed it, but not for battling – it hadn't battled a single thing since she and Iris were at the Ruins of Alph. Let out of its capsule, Shrew shook its head and looked at Kris in confusion.

"Sorry to bother you," Kris said as she knelt at the little Pokémon's level. "But I'm about to start some intense training, and I need my entire team at the ready. Croc is finally with me now, but I understand if you don't want to be with me anymore..."

Shrew then made a noise Kris hadn't heard it make before – it started growling. Kris initially thought it was at her, but then turned around and was greeted by a person who annoyed her even more than Eusine ever could – a blonde-haired man wearing a blue coat. Wes, or whatever his name was.

"Hi," Wes said casually, arms folded over his chest. "I've been wanting to talk to you one-on-one."

"I can honestly say I haven't," Kris grumbled. "What did you steal from me this time?"

"Nothing," Wes said in a tone so faux-innocent that Kris' blood started to boil. "Don't lose your temper – you just got out of the hospital, remember?"

Kris scowled. "You're a douche _and_ a creep, I see. Why should I not call the cops on you?"

"I'm sure someone already did," Wes said with a shrug. "And besides, me and your Sandshrew go way back. I saved its life, so y'all could be a little more-"

Wes didn't get any more words in and Shrew suddenly leaped at him and started clawing his face. Wes himself gave out a high-pitched squeal and tried to peel the Mouse Pokémon off his face, but Shrew just scratched him everywhere it could reach, squeaking furiously.

"Oh, God!" Wes screamed. "Get it off! Get it off!"

"Shrew, get over here!" Kris commanded, and the Pokémon reluctantly obeyed, running behind Kris' leg and glaring at Wes from there. "I'm not sorry, though. I'll let you say whatever you have in mind, but just remember that I can make Shrew do that again."

Wes panted and wiped his face on his sleeve – it was full of scratch marks, some bleeding, and he had lost his smug composure.

"Sheesh, thanks," Wes sighed. "I don't normally hurt Pokémon, but I swear-"

"Yeah, whatever," Kris said. "That incident just gave me less reason to believe you."

"Just listen to me," Wes pleaded. "I saw you guys fightin' against Mewtwo back there. Don't ask me how, I got people, got it?"

"And you're a stalker."

"I'm not – damn it, did anyone ever tell you that you're impossible to talk to?"

"Yes," Kris admitted it nonchalantly. "And?"

"You're on some quest to do somethin' really spectacular and vague, aren't you?" Wes asked. "How does tracking Mewtwo down and stopping it from rampaging sound like?"

Kris frowned. "Do you know something?"

"Yeah," Wes said. "I know the good folks of Neo Team Rocket are after it too, for reasons you'll probably guess. I know where they are, hence, I know where Mewtwo is."

"How?" Kris asked dubiously.

"Overheard them talking loudly," Wes said. "Figured you'd want to know – remember the Ruins of Alph? There's a tunnel connecting them to the Union Cave. Our little science fair project is charging its batteries there, and Rockets have been massing outside the place too. Led by that guy Petrel, I think. Remember him?"

Kris frowned even more and folded her own arms, trying to look intimidating. "What's the catch? What do you want?"

"Nothing, do what you want with this," Wes said calmly. "Must feel pretty good, though. Just a few weeks ago, you were a nobody, and look at you now! Team Rocket knows your name, a homicidal lunatic and a Pokémon thief are on your case. You're positively the most popular kid on the block."

"Can you leave now?" Kris asked. "Please."

"Just one more thing," Wes said. "I figured you'd want to know the specifics of Navel Rock. How little _Shrew_ got the way he is."

Kris unfolded her arms. "How?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Your cute little critter is a former lab rat," Wes said. "One who slaughtered several of its kind, and people too. I should know – I was there. No idea why he's so hostile, though – we helped each other escape before the whole thing went sour. But I guess anything that reminds him of that place is something to be smashed and buried away. Funny thing, too – how little Shrew was quite fearsome back there."

Kris glanced at Shrew, who cowered behind Kris' leg. Kris could feel it shivering. _Fearsome_? It was better at battling than Kris thought, but for days on end, it hadn't done anything but sleep and be afraid of stuff. And it was so tiny, too!

"Well, just wanted you to know," Wes said and waved cheerfully. "Good huntin'!"

Wes retreated into the woods and fled out of sight, but Kris didn't pay him no mind. She knelt next to Shrew again, and with Wes gone, Shrew finally stopped shivering. Instead, it looked incredibly ashamed, avoiding eye contact with Kris.

"Shrew," Kris said softly. "I understand you're hurting. And I can sort of under... well, I can _comprehend_ how you feel. I just want you to know, that I don't care what you've done before this. What's done is done, and you already seem to regret your mistakes enough."

Kris patted the Pokémon, who slowly turned to look at Kris again. Kris smiled at it, then dug a small brown pouch from her bag, sighing in relief when it was still there.

"I'm not sure we stand a chance against Mewtwo," Kris said, "but we have to try. I know this is a lot to ask, but I have to get through this trial. Everything I'll ever be depends on it! Oh, and we need to stop it from causing any more destruction, of course."

Shrew slowly nodded, and Kris nodded back.

"This is the hardest thing to ask," Kris said. "Apparently you used to kind of kick all sorts of ass. I totally understand wanting to start again, leading a new, better life, but if you can be fearsome one last time, I would be eternally grateful! I understand you're still feeling under the weather, which is why I have this."

Kris finally opened the pouch. Despite the name 'Secretpotion', the medicine was about a dozen of round red capsules. There was also a small note about the proper dosage taking account the condition's severity and the mass of the Pokémon. Kris decided that for Shrew, one was enough, and held the capsule in front of Shrew's face.

"I have no reason to believe this will taste good," Kris said. "I'd try it myself, but I'm kind of afraid it'll destroy my kidneys or something. But it can help you get better, so if you'd just consider-"

Shrew snatched the capsule from Kris' hand and quickly ate it. Based on its cringe as its tongue touched the capsule, it was not pleasant, but after some gagging, Shrew finally managed to swallow the medicine.

"Excellent," Kris praised. "And thank you – I swear that after this, your new life can begin."


	10. Berserk Gene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To stop the runaway Mewtwo, Blaine asks Kris to team up with him, but Team Rocket has a different plan.

It was past eight PM. The sun was setting and people were scampering inside to avoid the rainfall – all except one man. A very tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a pinstriped suit, a long black coat and a gray hat that mostly obscured his face. He strode towards the Ruins of Alph with a single-minded purpose, and beside him was a white feline Pokémon with a long, slim body and a red jewel attached to its forehead.

**Chapter Ten: _Berserk Gene_**

_**Location: The Ruins of Alph, Johto** _

Kris entered the ruins through the unattended gatehouse, carrying Shrew under her arm, shielded from the rain by her jacket, while Kris herself was soaking wet. The guard's absence immediately attracted her attention, but she decided not to dwell on it – maybe they just didn't bother putting guards here past closing time? Who would steal anything from a famous archeological dig site with plenty of uncovered secrets?

The last time Kris had been there with Iris, the place was still bursting with life, scientists, technicians, guards and other staff walking around in a huff, but today, all these were absent.

_Oh no, I'm in way over my head here – shouldn't I call for someone's help? Iris, Blaine, Elm and Leaf can't be that far. But if I don't do this myself, is it even possible for me to – hey, a person!_

A security guard exited one of the uncovered chambers, stretching and looking completely normal despite the lack of people. Maybe it was someone taking a snooze inside the chamber while everyone else packed up and headed off? Or is this the only night watchman in the place? Kris decided to head over and have a word.

"Excuse me, Mr. guard!" Kris called out, and the guard flinched and started looking around wildly. "It's okay, I just want to ask you something."

Despite the rain, hearing Kris shout made Shrew climb out from under Kris' jacket and on Kris' shoulders, gazing restlessly at the guard briskly approaching Kris.

"Ma'am, the Ruins of Alph are closed for today," the guard said professionally. "Come back tomorrow, we'll be open for a little while longer."

"Oh, right, today's Sunday," Kris said, nodding. "Sorry, it's been a long day, but I just have a few questions." She turned her back at the guard to look around the ruins, seeing mostly plenty of old, partially collapsed buildings, new buildings serving as the scientists' quarters and ponds blocking access to other, deeper areas of the ruins. "Have you seen any suspicious people com-"

Kris squealed in surprise as Shrew suddenly jumped off her shoulder and attacked the security guard, who had grabbed an electrified stun baton off his belt. Just like with Wes, Shrew scratched the guard all over the place: his face, his chest and his arms, ripping through the security guard get-up and revealing a black shirt with a red 'R' emblem underneath.

"Shrew, Mega Punch!" Kris ordered, gasping in realization.

Shrew did as ordered, and the medicine seemed to have done the trick, as a single punch from the little Sandshrew's tiny paw knocked the fake guard out cold. Looking around for more, Kris grabbed the fake guard's legs and carelessly dragged him to one of the little shacks built for the scientists and locked him there, grabbing the guard's stun baton as she went.

Next, she headed for the chamber the guard came from. It was an old, small stone building, almost like a mausoleum, though fortunately lacking in corpses. Kris and Shrew inspected the small chamber. In the middle of the room, there was a panel containing one of the famous sliding tile puzzles. On the very back of the chamber, there were the same Unown engravings Kris had seen before – this time, she knew better than to touch them, but couldn't figure out what they said either.

"Dead end, huh?" a raspy voice suddenly spoke up.

Kris almost shrieked, but covered her mouth at the last moment as she turned around, only to be blinded by a flashlight pointed directly at her face.

"Relax, Kris," the voice said soothingly. "It's just me."

Kris rubbed her eyes and blinked the spots away from them, finally seeing the man who had sneaked up on her: Blaine. Shrew squealed in delight when he recognized the man, too.

"I'll take a wild guess at why you're here," Blaine grunted in an amused tone. "Figured you'd get to be a hero this way? Save the day and bask in the glory of triumph instead of being torn to shreds by a super-Pokémon with psychic abilities? And that's ignoring the dozen Rockets swarming around."

"Hey, one less now!" Kris snapped. "As you can see, I can take care of myself!"

"Yeah, I took out two in the other chamber, but it looks like they had sealed it before," Blaine said nonchalantly. "Not so easy without my gun, but I still have Magmar and Arcanine with me."

"How did you find here?" Kris wondered.

Blaine looked at the floor for a while instead of answering, inhaling and exhaling dramatically.

"If I tell you," Blaine said slowly, "you must absolutely not to mention this to anyone. Not to Iris, not to Leaf and particularly not to your professor friend. I don't want to lie to him, but I know what he'd do if I told the truth."

Kris just nodded, and Blaine slowly took off the glove covering most of his left hand except for his fingertips, then pulled back his sleeve. Kris cringed when she saw Blaine's arm: it was a strange purplish color and his skin had turned into something resembling the texture of a Grimer from his elbow to his thumb. It pulsated in a sick, grotesque way, too, and Blaine groaned a little when he put his glove carefully back on.

"W-what's wrong with you?" Kris asked, taking a step backwards as if the condition was infectious.

"My curse for playing God," Blaine said, smiling grimly. "When I created Mewtwo, we didn't have enough genetic material from Mew to synthesize new tissue from, so I had to use fragments of my DNA that I took from my arm. Then, when those idiots decided to wake Mewtwo up before it was ready and treated it as if it were a slave, it escaped and blew up the old Cinnabar Lab. I was away at the moment, suspended to keep me from interfering with their plans. As I headed to the lab, it was nothing but a flaming wreck – I saw Mewtwo there and felt it grabbing me. It was wounded, and some of its blood got on my arm. That, combined with Mewtwo's psychic powers means this wound gets worse whenever Mewtwo is nearby. When it's far away, it merely stings a little and is just oddly colored. Unless we contain Mewtwo's powers, the infection will spread to the rest of my body, and I'm afraid what happens next is..."

"Y-you'll die?" Kris suggested quietly when Blaine didn't finish that sentence.

"Worse," Blaine grunted. "But I know how we can stop it from causing any more havoc – without having to kill it!"

Blaine took a small item from the pocket of his lab coat – a Poké Ball. Pressing a button to enlarge it, Kris saw the differences compared to a regular red and white ball. This one had a blue top half with red parts sticking out of it, decorated with a large white letter 'M'.

"The Master Ball," Blaine said. "The very first prototype made by Silph and which Giovanni attempted to steal three years ago. When Red stopped him, the company's president gave it to him as thanks. Since then, a few other models were made, but making one is very expensive and few people are trusted with this much power. When I told Red of my problem long ago, he gave this to me for safekeeping. I owe it to him to finish the job."

"I want to help you!" Kris said firmly. "I'm tired of people treating me as a walking punchline, like I'm some pushover who constantly needs to be protected!"

"No offense," Blaine said, "but while you did all right earlier today, this is much more dangerous. You do know that you are young, inexperienced, small-"

"And no offense to you _Blaine_ but you're being a condescending prick right now. Either you accept my help or I'm going in and take Mewtwo and Team Rocket on myself. You decide!"

Blaine stroked his mustache, staring at Kris, impossible to read through the shades covering his eyes. Finally, he let out a boisterous laugh and slapped Kris on the shoulder – fortunately not with the infected hand.

"Well, damn it!" he said jovially. "You have fire in you, Kris! Maybe I was wrong to doubt you. You even remind me of - well, I don't know."

"Please don't say yourself when you were young," Kris said.

"I wasn't going to," Blaine chuckled. "When I was your age, I was a self-centered fool. No, you remind me of something far greater – even if it is just a bit."

Kris sighed. "So, how do we get into that cave?"

"Team Rocket probably went through the Union Cave," Blaine muttered as he pointed his flashlight at the strange letters. "They then sent those three guys here posing as guards to close the place earlier than usual and send the scientists home, planning to seal the chambers before anyone got through. But maybe this one can still be used..."

Blaine turned his flashlight off and opened one of his Poké Balls. Kris backed down a little when Blaine's Magmar materialized in the room.

"Magmar, Flash, please," Blaine said.

The flame at the tip of Magmar's tail suddenly grew brighter, bathing the chamber in light. The Unown letters suddenly glowed white as well, and soon enough, Kris and Blaine watched the piece of the wall with the letters slide away, revealing hidden stairs descending somewhere dark and no doubt scary.

Kris was amazed. "How...?"

"I've studied those symbols a bit since we first met," Blaine explained. "I can't exactly order a meal at the restaurant or find my way to the train station, but I recognized one of the symbols as the symbol for 'light', so I winged it from there. Magmar, go ahead."

Obediently, Blaine's Magmar walked into the narrow tunnel, walking the steps carefully, as the staircase was quite steep. Blaine went in after it but stopped at the entrance to look at Kris.

"Well?" he asked.

Kris gulped and nodded, following Blaine into the tunnel. The three walked the steps carefully, one at a time, Kris noticing more Unown letters on the walls written in a smaller font, no doubt telling some exciting tale that Kris had no desire to suck into her brain. As the trio descended deeper and deeper underground, Kris eventually started to hear the flow of water.

Blaine heard it too. "Underground river," he muttered. "Mewtwo came here to rest after our fight... or maybe to get away from the Masked Man?"

"Yeah, about that," Kris whispered for some reason. "You noticed the Man wasn't using a Poké Ball? How can he control it, then?"

"Let's hope Elm and the others find out," Blaine grunted.

When the trio finally reached the bottom of the staircase, Kris found herself shivering. The air in the cave was cold and damp and Blaine quickly returned Magmar to its Poké Ball and opened the flashlight – Kris had kind of hoped Blaine would keep it around for warmth. Instead, Kris buttoned her jacket tight and folded her arms to keep her hands warm. Blaine didn't seem to be bothered, he just looked carefully around the cave, scanning it with the flashlight. The underground river flowed just a few yards away from them, the tunnel extending to both left and right, darkness obscuring anything else that might have been hidden there. The flow of water drowned out all other noise.

Kris and Blaine walked carefully over to the edge of the river, peeking into the tunnel, but even Blaine's flashlight wasn't much of help as the river took a sharp turn to the right, blocking their line of sight.

"We have to be careful," Blaine muttered. "It would be incredibly easy for Team Rocket to sneak up behind us."

Kris and Blaine glanced at each other, then slowly turned around to look. Blaine's flashlight soon illuminated the familiar visage of the purple-haired, long-faced Rocket Executive Petrel, joined by three Rocket Grunts.

"Oh for frak's sake!" Kris snapped. "How did you even do that?"

"Oh, _puh-lease_ ," Petrel scoffed. "This whole place has been carved full of secret tunnels and passageways. A perfect place for a really strong and elusive Pokémon to hide in, no? Say, how's that arm feeling, doctor?"

Blaine scoffed in return. "Yeah, yeah, really impressive, you know about that. Is that supposed to intimidate me?"

Petrel shrugged. "Ehh, just trying to catch up, no need to be so hostile. We're practically colleagues, aren't we?"

"Huh?" Kris said.

"So, who will I have the displeasure of fighting to get this over with, hm?" Petrel asked as he carefully took off his long, white gloves and tossed them to a Rocket Grunt behind him.

"Kris, catch," Blaine said and threw something round and blue at Kris.

Even with her crappy hand-to-eye coordination, Kris managed to catch what Blaine had thrown just before it dropped in the river behind her. Opening her palm, she realized it was the Master Ball.

"Listen to me, Kris," Blaine said, standing directly between her and the Rockets, while Magmar did the same, standing in front of its trainer. "Go and find Mewtwo – I'll take care of this. If by some miracle you manage to get a shot and capture it, _do not under any circumstances open the ball_. Even the Master Ball can't control Mewtwo – it can only contain it, and I'm not even sure if that will last very long."

Petrel snorted. "I have to fight _you_?" he said and yawned dramatically. "Can you even toss a Poké Ball anymore, old man?"

"I dunno, can you throw one at all with those stringy arms of yours?" Blaine countered. "Kris, now!"

Petrel just smirked and sent out his Pokémon: an incredibly muscular, four-armed, gray fighting-type – a Machamp. Blaine went with his Magmar, but instead of sticking to watch, Kris took her jacket off, wrapped Shrew into it to keep it dry and sent out Croc.

To Kris' relief, Croc obeyed when Kris ordered it to jump in the water, and even though she had never tried it before, Kris jumped in after it, holding on to the Croconaw like it was a life-buoy, gasping for air as she struggled to stay above the surface in the cold, rapid current.

Making sure Kris and Shrew were holding on tight, Croc started swimming forward into the dark cave, the sounds of Blaine and Petrel giving their Pokémon orders soon getting blocked out by the current. For a long time, Croc just swam forward, Kris focusing all her energy on holding on to her Pokémon. Swimming was the only thing she used to excel at, but it had been years since she had done that, nor had she ever come across a current so strong.

Then, Kris could see light in the front – four Rocket Grunts riding small, autonomously moving boats equipped with bright head- and tail-lights. Focusing entirely on moving forward, they hadn't noticed Kris, but at their rate, they would also reach Mewtwo before she did. And then what would she say to Blaine? Blaine would...

_Hang on... Blaine..._

Wincing as she had to dip her hand in the cold water and reach for a Poké Ball, Kris sent out her Murkrow. Remembering a piece of rope she had in her bag, she reached out for it, too, tying it around Murkrow's leg and while giving the other end to Croc, who held it in its mouth. With Murkrow pulling, Croc managed to swim even faster, allowing Kris to rapidly approach the Rocket boats. Finally, a grunt noticed her.

"Intruders!" she yelled. "Behind us! Grimer, use Sludge!" she commanded the Pokémon also riding the same boat.

"Murkrow, dodge!" Kris ordered, and Murkrow expertly swerved out of the attack's way. "Excellent! Now, Night Shade!"

Murkrow's eyes glowed red as it launched a black and crimson beam of dark energy at the Grimer, knocking it out. Cursing, the Rocket Grunt booted the fainted Grimer off the boat. Kris watched the hapless Pokémon fall into the river, but decided that time for guilt was later – it would probably be fine, Grimer were able to swim, after all... probably.

"Koffing!" another Rocket yelled. "Smokescreen!"

But as Koffing began to spit black smoke into the tunnel, Croc took matters into its own hands and dove underwater, dragging Kris and Shrew with it – Kris managed to tap Shrew with a Poké Ball and recall it before anything bad happened, but after a couple of seconds of just swimming forward underwater, Croc surfaced again, the group having made past the smoke cloud.

"Brilliant!" Kris praised Croc. "Okay, Murkrow, use Night Shade again!"

Murkrow repeated the process for the Koffing, knocking it into its trainer and causing both to fall off the boat.

"Croc, let go!" Kris ordered. "And use Water Gun! Murkrow, you take the others!"

Together, Croc and Murkrow managed to knock all the Rocket Grunts off their boats one by one. Croc swam quickly past them, while Kris looked behind her to make sure they hadn't drowned.

As Kris and her Pokémon moved deeper into the tunnel, it turned dark again, but some light was pouring through from a hole at the side of the tunnel, Kris making out a small speck of land a couple of dozen yards in front of them.

"Murkrow, fly into that tunnel!" Kris ordered. "Croc, we only a few seconds, so make sure we don't aaaaahhh!"

Without warning, Croc grabbed Kris into its arms and jumped off the water. Both Kris and Croc got on the small, flat rock next to the tunnel's entrance, painfully landing on their bellies. As Kris coughed for a while and adjusted her breathing, she got up and squeezed the excess water off her hair, pondering if it was better short.

Next, Kris released Shrew and Lampent from their Poké Balls, allowing Lampent to illuminate the area. Slowly, Kris and her Pokémon walked into the tunnel, Kris having to walk slouched despite her shortness. The tunnel took Kris deeper into the cave, the faint, mysterious light coming from blue crystals sticking out of the walls and ceiling. Deciding to ask Blaine about them later, she focused on thinking strategies for the upcoming battle – there was no way Mewtwo would just let itself get sucked into the ball. But what chances did she have, anyway? It was a couple of small, practically freshly caught Pokémon against a clone of one of the most powerful things on the planet. Was this whole thing just an exercise in insanity?

Eventually, the tunnel ended and Kris found herself in a large cave. The blue light coming from Lampent's candles and the crystals scattered all over the place eventually revealed to Kris what she had feared: Mewtwo, floating in a lotus position above a flat rock. Its eyes glowed blue like they had done back in Ecruteak, but the glowing stopped as soon as Kris stopped moving, revealing Kris the Mewtwo's large purple irises. It stopped floating and landed on the rock before slowly standing up. For several seconds, Kris and Mewtwo just stared at each other, Kris' Pokémon forming a circle around their trainer, apart from Shrew, who hugged Kris' leg and shivered from sheer terror.

Kris gulped. "Hello, um, Mewtwo. P-please, don't attack me – I come in peace. Your, uh, creator is here with me and he-"

Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue and Kris wasted no time leaping behind a rock, her Pokémon following her as they all took cover, though nothing seemed to happen.

"Okay, so you don't like him!" Kris reasoned, still attempting to talk to the Pokémon while holding the Master Ball like her life depended on it. "I get that. I don't much like my parents either – though I guess that's where our similarities end, huh? I mean, I don't want to compare us or anything, heh..."

Kris stopped talking for a second. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Kris managed to pull herself together, wondering if she should just try to throw the Master Ball with no specific strategy.

"I understand how you're feeling," Kris told the Mewtwo, whose silence felt unbearable – it didn't even make any sound, just seemed to stay still in the same place as before. "That Masked Man guy is just using your power – and now those scum tried to come here and capture you. I'm not with them – I stopped them from coming here. Not that I think they stood a chance anyway... listen, Mewtwo, Blaine told me everything. Including about those people you killed – I'm sure you didn't mean to, and that they were bad people anyway, and you just wanted freedom! We can still end this without anyone else having to die. I... I know Pokémon aren't evil, not unless humans make them such. Please... let's just stop this. Get into this Poké Ball and-"

Kris cringed as a psychic wave of energy destroyed a rock slightly away from the one Kris was hiding behind. She knew it was a warning, but she didn't move anywhere.

"I really don't want to do this," she said. "But if you insist... Murkrow, go!"

Murkrow didn't hesitate, but flew away from its hiding hole and towards Mewtwo. Kris took the opportunity to peek over the rock, watching Mewtwo just stand still and do nothing.

"Murkrow, Feint Attack!" Kris yelled.

Murkrow moved so fast it vanished from sight and emerged again near Mewtwo, trying to hit it with a full-body tackle, but Mewtwo swatted it away with a simple swing of its three-fingered hand. Then, it attacked by hurling a brown orb of energy at Murkrow with incredible speed, knocking the bird out immediately. Kris recalled it and ducked behind the rock again.

"Damnitdamnitdamnit..." she muttered, rummaging through her bag. "Where is it... where is it... there!"

Kris managed to find SkrillDex in her bag and turned it on – fortunately, no loading period was necessary, and as Leaf had promised, it was fixed and started talking immediately:

" _It is unwise to allow unknown parties to tamper with my hardware – unit wonders if username Kris would protest if it attempted improvised surgery on her squishy, meatbag interior-"_

"Shut up!" Kris told the PokéDex. "We're literally in the middle of something – tell me whatever you can about that Pokémon there."

" _Specify: the Pokémon handing username Kris her pasty backside in a battle_?"

"Yes!"

" _Scanning... error: results incomplete. Data possibly corrupted or out of date_."

"You won't find it from any database – it's called Mewtwo and it's probably psychic-type, but what else can you tell me?"

" _Scanning... username Kris is correct – Pokémon identified as 'Mewtwo' is psychic-type. Properties: species is six feet and seven inches tall and weighs 269 pounds. Move previously used identified as Aura Sphere, fighting-type move, a near-instantaneous blast of energy. Other moves noted: Psychic, Shadow Ball, Recover, Protect, Psystrike, Mega Punch, Amnesia, Swift. Conclusion: would user wish to purchase an affordable life insurance now?_ "

"There's gotta be a way to get past it," Kris muttered. "And how can it know so many moves?"

Kris didn't get an answer, but instead she closed her eyes and cringed again when Mewtwo blew up a stalactite, letting the debris crumble down.

_Another warning shot... why doesn't it just finish me already?_

"Lampent, attack and use Shadow Ball!" Kris shouted.

But while Lampent did as ordered, Mewtwo just blocked the attack and responded with a Shadow Ball of its own, knocking out even her most powerful Pokémon with on shot. Kris recalled Lampent as well, while Croc roared and stepped out from behind the rock, ready to face Mewtwo without even being told to.

"Croc, no, I... all right, try your best! And be careful! Try to freeze it with Ice Fang!"

Croc's teeth glowed blue as it opened its mouth and charged at Mewtwo, but Mewtwo simply leaped out of the way and floated in air out of Croc's reach, not even bothering to attack. Croc growled and shook its little fists at it, while Mewtwo just watched.

"Water Gun!" Kris ordered.

Inhaling as deep as it could, Croc fired its Water Gun with the highest pressure it could manage, but Mewtwo blocked even this attack with ease. Not even bothering to wait for Kris' instructions, Croc readied its claws and leaped at Mewtwo, but Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue, and just like Kris had before, Croc was surrounded by a ghostly blue glow and floated in the air.

**~o~O~o~**

As Kris fought Mewtwo, Blaine made good progress with Petrel, who had forced the grunts to just stick back and watch. His Machamp managed to defeat Blaine's Magmar, but not before Magmar burned the fighting-type with its Will-O-Wisp attack. Now considerably weakened, it fell easily to Blaine's next Pokémon, Arcanine, who attacked with a destructive Flare Blitz.

Petrel sent out his Raticate next, but it was no match for Arcanine, in terms of both speed and strength, and the Raticate soon fell, too.

"Excellent!" Blaine praised the orange canine Pokémon. "And you," he told Petrel, who was forced to recall his Raticate. "You don't think it was sort of a mistake to use your strongest one _first_ , only to follow up with one of the lamest of all Pokémon afterward? I could swear the standards of you Executives just keeps dropping every year."

Petrel was shivering in rage as he glared at Blaine. "You conniving old son of a... you three!" he told the Rocket Grunts. "Attack him!"

"But you just said-"

"Never mind that! Kill him already!"

"Morning Sun!" Blaine shouted.

"The what now?" Petrel asked.

Petrel got his answer as Blaine looked away and Arcanine blasted the Rockets with a flash of blinding white light. As the Rockets were dazed, Blaine charged at Petrel and punched him in the face with his healthy hand, knocking him into the water. Arcanine followed Blaine's example and did the same for the grunts, tackling them all into the river.

"Thank you," Blaine simply said and scratched the Arcanine behind its ear. "Now, these guys came through some tunnel – it might lead us to Kris. She needs our help."

**~o~O~o~**

Kris watched helplessly as Mewtwo launched Croc through the air, telekinetically throwing it halfway across the cave until it hit the wall and blacked out. Kris returned the Pokémon, realizing she only had two left.

 _Well, there's always Shuckie_...

But Kris only had to imagine the sight of Mewtwo using Psychic on it, tossing it around until the Shuckle was just turtle soup, which the Mewtwo would then gleefully gobble down – perhaps it wasn't wise to use it, then.

Mewtwo's eyes stopped glowing and it started to slowly walk towards Kris, who made herself as small as she could, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth.

_Damn it! I can't do anything! I wasn't even cut out for these trials in the first place._

_But at least it will be all over now..._

Kris flinched and opened her eyes when she felt something tugging her sleeve. She saw Shrew staring at her, tilting its head at Mewtwo's direction. Kris could only stare back.

"You... you serious?"

Shrew just nodded and suddenly pulled its stomach in, starting to flex its nonexistent muscles. This energetic little Pokémon looked completely different from the wounded, helpless critter Kris had found from Violet City.

"All right," Kris whispered. "But only distract it – I'll do the rest."

Shrew nodded, and quickly sprang up from behind the cover, leaping at Mewtwo and even managing to scratch it in the face before Mewtwo could react. Instead of blowing up Kris, it instead focused its attention on Shrew, hurling another Shadow Ball at it, but Shrew dodged the attacks with ease, running around the cave and hopping from place to place at incredible speed.

**~o~O~o~**

One of Petrel's goons had managed to grab a rock before getting dragged away by the current. Soaking wet and coughing, he pulled himself up back on the surface, back near the stairs where Blaine and Petrel had fought. There didn't seem to be anyone around, Blaine having long since walked deeper into the tunnel.

But as a large man in a suit walked down the stairs, the grunt quickly decided that he'd still like to keep his job, so he grabbed his stun baton and held it at the ready, trying to get a good look at the arrival.

"Who goes there?" he asked. "Don't come closer or I'll... I'll..."

Finally seeing the pale, gaunt, deadly serious face of the arrival and the Persian following him, the grunt dropped his baton, then fell on his knees, staring up at the man.

"It's you... boss," he wailed pathetically. "My lord! I am so sorry – I thought you had left us for good! This is a day of joy – just wait, sire, I'll get a hold of Ariana and Archer and they'll-"

The jewel on Persian's head shined as the feline Pokémon obliterated the grunt with a powerful Hyper Beam attack.

Meanwhile, Blaine was still slowly walking down the secret tunnel he had found, but had to stop constantly as he felt an unbearable burst of pain in his arm. When this happened for the third time in a span of a couple of minutes and Blaine didn't get up again, Arcanine whined in concern, sniffing at the arm Blaine was clutching.

"It's okay, Arcanine," he panted. "If I can't get up... you go on ahead... find Kris. Find Mewtwo. Do whatever it takes to capture it."

Blaine took off his glove and pulled his sleeve up again, but doing so caused him so much pain that he screamed, the sound reverberating in the tunnel. Finally, Blaine could see the extent of the damage – the disease in his arm had spread to his fingertips, while the other end was up to his shoulder and spreading towards his chest.

"No," he grunted. "Can't die yet. Got to stop Mewtwo. Say, Arcanine..."

Arcanine tilted its head and looked at its trainer.

"What do you think, can you bite it off?" Blaine muttered, half delirious now. "Please... I can do with just one..."

" _Isn't that noble of you_."

Though his vision was blurry, Blaine could still see the silhouette of a large man in a fancy dark suit slowly approaching him, a white Pokémon by his side. Arcanine growled at him, while Persian hissed back. It took a moment, but Blaine soon recognized that voice – he would never forget it.

"You... you're here for..."

"Yes, I'm here for it," the man announced. "I knew you'd put me on the right track, and I managed to squeeze information from your friend Fuji that you were in Johto."

"But... three years ago... Red defeated you..."

"Indeed. It has been a while since I was destroyed so thoroughly. One of my best battles, in fact. But I'm a man of my word, and I promised to return once my training was complete. Are you all right over there?"

Blaine screamed again as another surge of pain went through his arm. He could feel the infection spreading beneath his skin.

"A pity we had to give you up," the man spoke, hands placed casually in his pockets. "You were one of our best scientists."

"I wasn't... doing it... for you..."

"But now you can. We can leave the pathetic Team Rocket behind us now and focus on _my_ goal. And for that – I need Mewtwo."

"..."

"What's that?"

"Suck me," Blaine growled. "Arcanine, Take Down!"

"Persian, Double Team."

The man's Persian suddenly split into three different Persians, all jumping around rapidly, confusing Arcanine.

"Slash," the man ordered calmly.

The copies disappeared, but before Arcanine could find the real one, it was struck by the Persian's sharp claws. It roared in pain, but didn't stop, instead trying to bite Persian, who jumped out of the way. Blaine was still on the ground, trying to get a good look at the battle.

"Flamethrower!" Blaine ordered.

"Giga Impact," Giovanni countered.

Persian was so fast that it charged at Arcanine before the latter could even aim. Persian's whole body glowed white as it collided with Arcanine, knocking the fire-type out. With his last ounce of strength, Blaine returned the Arcanine to its Poké Ball before it could be hurt further, but lost consciousness immediately after.

**~o~O~o~**

Mewtwo propelled itself into the air and launched itself towards Shrew, flying around and chasing it, all the while firing attacks at it. Shrew dodged the Shadow Balls and even Aura Spheres by taking cover a split-second before the attack hit – the Sandshrew's power had grown immensely since the battle against Falkner, even though Kris hadn't actually battled with the Pokémon since.

But finally, as Shrew was starting to lose its breath and slow down, Mewtwo managed to grab a hold of it with Psychic. Instead of throwing it away immediately like it did with Croc, Mewtwo instead used its psychic powers to lift Shrew in the air, then force it to hit the floor again, repeating it over and over, Shrew squealing painfully every time.

With that, Kris made her move.

Jumping away from the rock and running faster than she had ever ran before, she pulled back her arm, ready to throw the Master Ball. Mewtwo stopped playing with Shrew and turned to look at Kris, but immediately after getting control of its body again, Shrew curled into a ball and spun towards Mewtwo's head, distracting it for one valuable second.

And that second allowed Kris to throw the Master Ball, hitting the clone Pokémon in the chest. Kris watched without blinking as Mewtwo was converted into energy and sucked into the ball.

The Master Ball started wriggling on the ground, shaking constantly, the button in the center glowing red. Kris stared at it intensely, as did Shrew, its claws extended and ready to attack if it broke out.

But then, finally, just as advertised, the Master Ball came to a halt, the light turned off. Slowly, inch by inch, Kris approached the ball as if it was a stick of dynamite, eventually bending over and delicately picking it up. Nothing happened and the Master Ball stayed inert.

And just as she did so, a voice boomed from a ledge above her:

"Excellent work. I didn't think you had it in you."

Kris gasped in shock, trying to identify the man clad in a black trench coat and a black hat that obscured his face. Even being as bruised and injured as it was, Shrew stepped in front of Kris and spread little arms wide. The man's Persian appeared by his side, licking its lips as it stared at Shrew.

"You've contained the powers of the mighty Mewtwo," the man said. "I couldn't even do it myself. Allow me to introduce myself."

The man removed his hat, revealing his pale, gaunt, surgically altered face and slick, well-combed black hair. Kris recognized him, even though she had only seen him in pictures, brief news clips, artists' impressions and wanted posters.

"Twice now has Mewtwo escaped my grasp," Giovanni said. "Five years ago on Cinnabar Island, and then two years later when I failed to get my hands on that very Master Ball you're holding. Today will not mark the third. Do not be alarmed – I no longer associate myself with Team Rocket, or whatever it is that they're calling themselves now. I have dedicated my life to the study of Pokémon, to discovering their deepest secrets. And you're holding the key to unlocking most of them..."

Giovanni reached his hand out towards Kris and opened his palm. "Just toss the ball over to me," he said. "And we can unlock its potential together."

Kris felt her legs shaking and her breathing became shallow and rapid.

 _No... I got so far! I have no more Pokémon left to fight him with_.

"Oh," Giovanni continued, "and I believed you will be missing this... Persian!"

Persian disappeared from sight for a moment, then returned, dragging something heavy with its teeth. With a nudge, Persian dropped the unconscious Blaine off the ledge, letting him fall a few feet, though the groans he made relieved Kris a little.

"Poor Doctor Blaine," Giovanni mused. "The strangest thing is that I didn't have to do anything to him – he did this to himself. Mind you, he may still live if we get him to a hospital soon. All you have to do is hand the ball over to me."

Kris looked nervously at Blaine, who was struggling to roll over on his back. The message was clear, and Kris stepped forward with the Master Ball in hand. Giovanni smiled contently.

"D... don't... give it to him..."

Kris paused. Blaine managed to roll on his back, his breathing raspy and his diseased hand completely purple, the texture of his skin gooey like a melting candle. But he still had the energy to speak.

"Head back and run... warn Professor Elm... and Mr. Fuji... they have to know."

"Do you know about the Pokémon Mew?" Giovanni asked Kris, but didn't wait around for an answer. "Scientists believe Mew to be the first species of Pokémon to populate the planet, and that its DNA contains traces of DNA from every single Pokémon to have come since. It is the precursor to everything, the blueprints to all Pokémon worldwide. It is said that only one Mew exists today, and I can not capture that, which is why I wanted to get my hands on the next best thing: a clone."

Kris took a few steps backwards, holding the Master Ball tight with both hands, Shrew staying in front of her every step of the way. Giovanni chuckled.

"What do you expect to do?" he asked. "Only a powerful trainer can command a Pokémon like that. I admire your skill in capturing it, but without the Master Ball, there would be nothing left of you by now."

Kris stopped moving when she heard some distant rumbling, but Giovanni didn't seem to notice or care.

"If you hand the ball over to me," Giovanni said slowly, "you will receive what you always wanted." Giovanni closed his eyes and put his index finger and middle finger against his forehead. "I can see that you're struggling to be recognized, to be remembered. You want to prove this region, maybe even this entire country, how wrong they were. With me, you can achieve that goal – what do you say?"

Kris stared at Giovanni. For a moment, she saw a brief flash of herself, Mewtwo and Giovanni standing on top of a giant rock, everyone bowing down at them, Lyra and Ethan included...

But then she looked down, at Blaine, who lay on the ground, shaking and groaning. Was she going to betray his trust now? She also thought of Iris, how she had admired her unquestionably, and how professor Elm had taken her in and taught her, treated her like someone who mattered.

Was this Giovanni going to do the same?

The rumbling came back, and this time, both Kris and Giovanni felt the tremors. Small rock fragments fell off the ceiling after another tremor, but Giovanni stood still and stared at Kris.

"This cave is about to collapse," he said simply. "Give me the ball. Now."

Kris looked at the Master Ball, then at Giovanni... and then put it in her bag before closing it tightly. She looked back up at Giovanni, and calmly gave him her response:

"No."

Giovanni scowled. "Very well."

Moving with incredible speed and precision, Giovanni tossed four Poké Balls in the air, then kicked them directly at Kris, who tried to run away but tripped, hitting her knee on the rock. Four powerful Pokémon appeared around her, surrounding her and Shrew entirely. There was a Rhyperior, a Golem, a Machamp and a Kingler. Shivering but still holding its arms in front of Kris, Shrew prepared itself for a battle.

"Kill her," Giovanni said simply as the cave shook and crumbled all around him.

The Rhyperior aimed its cannon-like arm at Kris, the Kingler snapped its pincers, Kris closed her eyes and ducked while Shrew prepared to lunge at the Golem **.**

And then, in a pink flash of light, Kris was gone.

**~o~O~o~**

Kris breathed deep, opening her eyes as she felt grass under her knees. She looked around her, seeing lampposts, small wooden buildings and ancient stone chambers. Looking up at the cloudless sky, she saw the stars and the full moon.

Before doing anything else, Kris grabbed her bag and rummaged through it, but it was in vain: the Master Ball was gone.

"Looking for this?"

Kris gasped when she saw an old, completely bald man with gray eyebrows and beard hold the Master Ball in his hand, smiling kindly at Kris.

"Don't worry," he said softly. "You're safe now, as are your friends."

Kris looked the way the old man was pointing at, seeing Shrew laying on the grass but slowly coming to its senses, as well as Blaine, who was still laying on his back a few feet away from Shrew. The old man walked up to Blaine and made him drink from the water bottle he was carrying, managing to revitalize him. Kris noticed that the skin on Blaine's hand was now normal and only slightly purplish in color.

"Fuji!" Blaine gasped as he regained consciousness. He grabbed Fuji by his shirt collar, only to pull his hands away when he noticed they were back to normal. "What in the world-"

"I asked a favor from a friend," Fuji said mysteriously.

Blaine shook his head, then focused on the Master Ball in Fuji's hand. Fuji noticed Blaine's gaze.

"I take it our project is in here," Fuji guessed.

Blaine nodded. He then turned to look at Kris, smiling weakly.

"You did it, Kris," Blaine said hoarsely. "I don't know how, but you went and did it, you crazy little runt! Thank you!"

Getting herself in a sitting position, Kris rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, the events of the cave not quite sinking in yet.

"Uh, you're welcome...?" was all she could say. "I, um, the Master Ball helped a lot, obviously. And my Pokémon."

Kris picked Shrew up from the ground carefully, holding it at her eye level.

"You did it," she told the Pokémon. "You did what I asked and I'm incredibly proud of you. Do you... still want to be in my team?"

Shrew nodded, squealing happily and hugging Kris so tight that its claws almost took off Kris' ear. Laughing in relief, Kris returned the hug. Fuji and Blaine watched, both smiling.

"I remember when that Sandshrew was brought to the Lavender Volunteer Pokémon House," Fuji said, causing both Kris and Shrew to look at him. "It was in a terrible condition, and not just physically. But it looks like helping us capture Mewtwo was what finally gave the little fellow release. I prayed it would one day find a good trainer to help it forget what happened at Navel Rock... and looks like it wasn't in vain."

"Sorry I didn't tell you before," Blaine grunted. "Mewtwo was a priority, but we detected some unusual energy readings from Shrew. They matched the ones we got from Mewtwo, so that kinda threw off our machinery. I'm still not sure _what_ the link between them is, but I guess we have plenty of time to find out now."

"It's all right," Kris said. "I'm just happy I could help it. And Mewtwo too, of course. Um, what's gonna happen to it now?"

"We'll try talking to it a little," Fuji pondered. "And once we think it's safe, we'll release it again. Where, who knows... possibly Kalos. It's a good place to start a new life."

"And... holy Arceus!" Kris exclaimed, going almost giddy in excitement. "Doesn't this mean... I helped you solve an incident related to a legendary Pokémon... I practically helped all of you turn your lives over... you can testify to the Legendary Pokémon Society, and I'll pass the trials for sure! They might even ask me to become a member! Aww yeah!"

"Actually, Kris, that might be a problem," Fuji said kindly.

"...aww yeah?" Kris said weakly.

"I'm afraid not," Blaine sighed. "Kris, I would actually appreciate if you'd keep this whole thing to yourself for the time being."

"WHAT? !"

"Please understand," Blaine said calmly. "If you tell the LPS, they're going to be wanting answers. They'll think Mewtwo is a threat. Hell, it almost killed a bunch of their members and practically destroyed their base of operations."

"But-"

"They'll hunt Mewtwo down and do whatever they can to make sure it will not be a threat – and they won't hesitate to kill it if they have to. I can't have that happen on my watch!"

"You asshole!" Kris yelled.

Blaine sighed even deeper. "I guess I deserve much worse than that. Look, just don't tell the LPS or anyone else about this. Well... I think Iris, Leaf and Elm are trustworthy enough, but that's it. In return, I... well, I'll owe you big time. And I'll definitely make some calls and recommend you to them. Since we only recently met, my recommendation will hold more weight than Elm's."

"...fine."

Kris didn't like it. She wanted someone to blame so she could tear them a new feeding hole. But Blaine had a point, and there was not much use arguing anyway.

"I promise I'll shut up about this," Kris said tensely.

_But if me getting into the Silver Conference will depend on this – then I say that promises were meant to be broken._


	11. Transcendence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reinvegorated by what she experienced with Mewtwo, Kris continues her training, running into an old friend on the way.

" _The ones who practice the ancient art of the Pokémon trials must endure hardship, disappointments, heartache and loss. Only those who pass trials of Truth, Courage and Love, selected by the wisest in all the land, can_ _rightfully call themselves Pokémon masters."_

" _Addendum: 'getting some' does not meet the criteria of passing the trials of 'Love'."_

**Chapter Eleven: _Transcendence_**

_**Location: Ecruteak City Gym, Johto** _

"Murkrow, Night Shade!"

It was Monday afternoon. Having returned from the Ruins of Alph and slept Sunday's events off like they were just a bad day at school, Kris spent the morning training on the outskirts of Ecruteak before returning to challenge the gym. Morty had clearly not expected to see Kris return, but having healed back to a hundred percent, had agreed to hold a two-on-two battle.

He clearly had not expected Kris to beat his Dusknoir either. As Murkrow fired its Night Shade attack one last time, the bulky ghost-type was too slow to dodge and it soon fell.

"Impressive!" Morty praised as he recalled the Dusknoir. "I don't know what you did these past twenty-eight hours, but it certainly has made you stronger."

"My Pokémon anyway," Kris remarked – she wasn't nearly as nervous with Morty anymore, and had plenty of time to observe his tactics – he was good, but his choice of type could be his potential undoing.

Morty sent out his second Pokémon, and as Kris had expected, it was his Gengar. Kris ordered Murkrow to use Pursuit, but Morty was faster and ordered Gengar to use Thunderbolt, and before Murkrow managed to hit the ghost-type, it fell after being hit by the electric shock. Kris recalled the Pokémon, wondering which one she should use.

_Lampent is no match for Gengar, both in terms of speed and strength, and it's weak to ghost-type attacks. Sandshrew is still recovering – too bad, Gengar's secondary type is Poison – which I guess only leaves one option._

"Croc, go!"

Kris sent out her Croconaw, to which Morty made an amused sound, but didn't comment on the choice any further.

"Shadow Claw!" he ordered.

Gengar quickly close the distance between the two and attempted to strike Croc with its glowing claws, but Kris reacted quickly:

"Protect!"

Gengar hit an invisible wall instead. Next, Kris quickly ordered a Scary Face attack, which didn't damage Gengar, but instead considerably dropped its speed. Morty didn't seem to have much time for defensive tactics:

"Use Thunderbolt!"

As Kris had assumed, Morty had wanted to use the attack up close, hence the Shadow Claw attack. Kris told Croc to leap out of the way, but the attack hit it anyway. What surprised Morty was that Croc was hurt, but didn't fall or even come close to fainting.

"Now Scary Face again!" Kris ordered.

Morty frowned as Croc once again glowered at Gengar, but didn't show any sign of crumbling.

"Shadow Ball!" he ordered.

"Croc, Water Gun!"

Morty's jaw dropped when Croc actually reacted faster, blasting Gengar away before it could use its attack. However, he was also quick to recover from his shock, putting his cool face on again.

"I'm amazed, Kris," he remarked. "You're nothing like the bumbling little girl you were during yesterday's battle. But you should know – I always fight to win."

Morty pulled his sleeve back just enough to reveal that he was wearing a bracelet – just like the one Eusine had worn. As he pressed the jewel on the bracelet, Gengar started glowing and transforming. Bright red flames erupted around the Pokémon as it started to sink into the gym's floor. It also grew a third, orange eye. Kris nodded approvingly, to which Morty frowned again.

"I thought you'd be a bit more surprised," he said flatly. "Internet?"

"Yeah," Kris said. "Also saw Eusine Mega Evolve his Alakazam before – except he didn't wait around before exposing himself – I mean... well, you know him!"

"Yup," Morty said. "Shadow Ball!"

"Croc, Crunch!"

Even as a Mega Gengar, the ghost-type still felt the effects of Croc's earlier attacks, slowly charging the Shadow Ball and giving Croc plenty of time to dodge, then leap towards its opponent and bite it, knocking it out with a super-effective attack.

"Yes!" Kris cheered and ran to hug the Croconaw. "Awesome job, Croc!"

Morty sighed, but gracefully walked over to Kris to shake her hand, which Kris did gladly, relieved that she didn't have to act cool anymore.

"I'm not ashamed to concede defeat," Morty said after the handshake and gave Kris a badge – this one was lavender and shaped like a wispy ghost. "Please accept the Fog Badge. You have shown me admirable skill and great potential to be something even more than what you are now."

"Thankees!" Kris said, feeling oddly cheerful despite yesterday's disappointment as she pinned the badge to the inside of her jacket, next to her only other badge, the Zephyr Badge.

"Your Pokémon should now respect you even more, which you'll surely note in battle," Morty said. "But I'm curious... how did you manage to win? You couldn't have possibly raised your Croconaw's levels above mine in such a short amount of time."

"Nope, I haven't," Kris said. "You see, I've kinda seen you fight many times – I always made sure to watch your battles on TV. Sorry if that sounds nerdy... but, um, anyway, see, I knew your Gengar's greatest asset was its speed, so I figured if I could use Scary Face to lower it, that could have given Croc time to both dodge and attack first."

"I got that," Morty muttered. "A good strategy, by the way. But how did Croconaw survive the Thunderbolt!"

"That was my favorite part," Kris admitted glibly.

She showed Morty one of the yellow, candle-shaped berries she had brought earlier that morning from a woman with a small stand outside the Ecruteak Pokémon Center.

Morty slapped his forehead. "A Wacan Berry," he sighed. "Clever."

Kris smiled bashfully. "'Twas nothing special," she mumbled.

"Well, a deal's a deal," Morty said. "The Wise Trio have mostly recuperated, so they'll give you that special training you wanted. And after that, I can even show you where you can continue your quest."

"Suh-weet!"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Professor Elm's laboratory, New Bark Town** _

Carrying two cups of coffee, professor Elm carefully descended the stairs from his living quarters to his lab.

"Iris!" he called out. "I think it's time for a break, and-"

Elm stopped and sighed when he saw Iris sleeping with her head resting on a pile of thick books, her laptop still running. Elm carefully walked over to her, placing the coffee cup next to her head and taking a look at the computer screen – Iris had two browsers and about thirty tabs open.

However, the smell of coffee right next to head woke Iris up. She slowly and groggily lifted her head up, taking a few seconds before she realized what was going on.

"Oh, morning, professor," she said, rubbing her eyes. "Back to research, then?"

"Um, it's afternoon," Elm said nervously. "Have you been... I mean, did you get any sleep?"

"Sleep?" Iris repeated. She looked at the time on her laptop. "Well, I slept about an hour and seven minutes. But you won't believe what I found on the Masked Man. Take a look!"

"This is Tumblr," Elm commented.

"I got a bit sidetracked," Iris admitted. "And I figured I'd check my dashboard – I even found Kris here! Did you know she has been furiously blogging for about a year?"

"Oh? How many followers does she have?"

"Well, now that I've followed her... one."

"Oh," Elm said. "Anyway, was that what you wanted me to see?"

"Well, sort of, I mean I did even find stories about him there," Iris said and switched to another tab. "But besides that, there have been news reports about the guy or something resembling him for a while now. Mostly about someone called 'the Mask of Ice'. There was a story in Hoenn from about six years ago about how a masked stranger managed to rob a bank by causing a sudden snowstorm – in August! In Hoenn! And then there have been some infamous murder cases in Almia where the killer was dubbed 'the Mask'."

"Interesting," Elm muttered.

"Yeah," Iris said, hesitated for a while, and then asked: "Say, what do you think that guy's favorite Jim Carrey movie is?"

Elm frowned and pondered the question for a while as he took a sip from his coffee. "Um... _Eternal Sunshine_?"

"...never mind," Iris said. " _Anyway_ , there's also one from seven years back, which is the most interesting, since it was in Johto, right in the next town over."

"Cherrygrove?" Elm said. "What happened there?"

"Well, these one are pretty curious. First, there's a sighting of a strangely dressed man in a mask sneaking around at night. And then, a report from three days later about a child being kidnapped from Cherrygrove City by an unknown person."

Elm cringed. "Oh no... did they ever solve the case?"

"That's just it, there have been child kidnappings reported a few years before and a few years past that incident all over in both Kanto and Johto, but they happened infrequently, and in most cases, the children were found relatively quickly and thankfully unharmed. But here's the awesome part..." Iris seemed quite passionate despite talking about horrible crimes. "Every time there has been a kidnapping, there has also been a sighting of some mysterious wanderer preceding or succeeding it."

"That doesn't sound all that extraordinary," Elm commented.

"Yeah, but in four cases out of the six I found... it was a person with a mask. Also, in five of them, the kids have been found. The shortest time it took for that to happen was a couple of weeks, while the longest was a year and a half."

"Huh," Elm said, eyebrows raised. "Wow. You really did stay up all night putting this together, huh?"

"Well, it was interesting," Iris beamed. "Um, horrible, too, but interesting!"

"It does sound like there's a connection, but... what does he have to gain from those kidnappings? And how come no one else has investigated this?"

"Some have," Iris admitted. "It's been a theory some have circulated around, but those have always died down after a while. People have short memories, and those incidents occurred far away from each other and very infrequently. Look – I put them in chronological order!"

"Iris..."

"See, the very first one happened in Blackthorn City, and only eleven months later, another at the Sevii Islands, which didn't really interest most of mainstream media, even though that's the one where they took a year and a half to find the kid!"

"Iris."

"What?"

"Um, how should I phrase this properly," Elm said awkwardly, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his lab coat. "I mean, Kris sometimes flipped her lid when I told her this, but... maybe you should take that break now. You're gonna pass out that rate."

"You suggesting that I'm too weak to even do research?"

"No, I-"

"Just teasing you, professor!" Iris laughed. "Anyway, yeah, a break sounds good now."

Iris took the cup of coffee Elm had brought, and though it wasn't hot anymore, Iris still downed it in seconds. She then looked around the lab, smiling at the piles of documents and opened books lying around.

"This place is so empty," she observed. "Doesn't it ever get lonely here?"

Elm sighed, put his glasses back on and sat on the edge of another table nearby.

"Well, um, sometimes," he admitted. "My aide has been very helpful. You know, when he's not using the lab computers for video games. Or arguing on forums. Or... adult material. He's on a field assignment now... um, I think."

"Yikes," Iris said. "Well, what about Kris?"

Elm smiled. "Yeah, it was pretty nice when she came around – when she was on a good mood, that is. But I dunno, it has actually been a year since she did any work for me. She mostly shut herself in... then there was that fiasco at Earl's Pokémon Academy. I thought getting her a Pokémon would motivate her a bit, cheer her up maybe..."

"Well, it has!" Iris argued. "You met her in Ecruteak yesterday, didn't you notice anything?"

"Um... no."

Iris giggled. "Wow, professor, no offense, but you need to get out more."

Elm just smiled sadly and gazed up at the stairs leading to his living quarters. "I suppose," he sighed.

A silence then followed. Iris didn't know why Elm just kept staring upstairs, but decided to ask about it later, instead focusing on her chilled, bitter coffee and returning to her computer.

After several quiet minutes, someone arrived in the lab. It was Leaf, carrying a large book under her arm. Iris noticed she had visible bags under her eyes, but didn't comment on that either, instead greeting her cheerfully:

"Hi, Leaf! Where were you?"

"Visited the library in Violet City," she said and placed the thick book on yet another conveniently placed desk. She then looked at the time on her C-Gear. "Wow, took me like six hours. Good thing Rapidash is so quick on its feet, I wouldn't have been back before midnight otherwise."

"Found any, uh, new information?" Elm inquired.

"That's what the book is for," Leaf said, and suddenly yawned and stretched her arms, her back making a snapping sound. "Damn, I woke up early. Any word from Blaine?"

"He just left yesterday," Elm reminded, "what are the chances of him just managing to find Mewtwo that very same night?"

"I guess that would be ridiculous," Leaf shrugged.

"Hey, Leaf, can I ask you something?" Iris said suddenly, prompting both Leaf and Elm to look at her.

Leaf looked surprised, but not bothered by it. "Uh, sure, I don't think that was ever an issue..."

"Well, you seemed to know that Mask of Ice, or Masked Man, or whatever that guy's name is," Iris said delicately. "Can you... I mean, is it okay for you to... could you tell us something about that?"

Leaf sighed, but pulled a chair closer to Iris and sat on it anyway. "You really want to know?" she asked, and Iris nodded hesitantly. "Okay, but brace yourselves, this is gonna be a long one..."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Ecruteak City, Johto** _

"Well?" Morty asked.

He and Kris stood before the Wise Trio, who sat behind their desk and still bore the bruises, cuts and bandages from their injuries before – and they were clearly bitter about it, one even clearly frowning and looking down his nose at Kris.

"Brother Morty, you do realize we are in the middle of a quite demanding operation here?" asked Sage Broderick, apparently the oldest and 'wisest' of the group. "Our holy sanctum was nearly destroyed by a human with unnatural powers and what appeared to be a legendary Pokémon. We are in the middle of rebuilding."

"And what's worse," said Sage Allen, who sat to Broderick's left from where Kris was standing, "we failed to keep this incident under wraps. Since _you_ were on a hospital bad, we dealt with damage control."

"I thought you had the time for it," Morty said stoically in return. "You don't particularly seem to do much here."

Sage Allen tossed a rolled up newspaper at Morty, who opened it and looked at the headline, Kris having to stand on her toes to read it as well:

" _Terror in Ecruteak: Panic strikes the normally quiet city as a criminal titled 'The Masked Man' vandalized the gatehouse leading to the Bell Tower and attacked gym leader Morty. The International Police investigates this as an attempted murder – Detective Looker promises to 'grab the case's bottom'._ "

"I've seen that guy on TV!" Kris suddenly exclaimed when she pointed at Looker's picture. "He's supposed to take care of that Suicune thing!"

"I know, I've met him," Morty said. "And he's in Johto now, apparently."

"We already gave testimonies, as did brother Lance," Allen continued, "and told him that you're still recuperating, but he'll be wanting to talk to you soon. At least he knows of the LPS and you can talk to him freely, but what will we tell the locals about this incident?"

"Nothing that the paper didn't already tell," Morty said. "And that crackpot can be handled by the police – it's their job, after all. I have my own job to do on top of my responsibilities to this Society. And that includes getting training for Kris here!"

Sage Tim, the one looking at Kris with derision, finally spoke up: "The girl got a Fog Badge, which doesn't seem to be much of an achievement these days – either that or you let her win. From what we've seen, she hasn't displayed any particular skills. She managed to be part of saving the Slowpoke mostly because of luck, she didn't do much against the Masked Man during the fight and she failed to deliver the medicine to the gym leader of Olivine, instead letting another person do it for her."

 _Crap_.

Morty didn't seem satisfied either, but didn't rise up to the bait. Kris decided that she should say something too.

She cleared her throat. "Uh, I did come in eighth place in the Whirl-"

"You'll speak to us when spoken to, young lady," Sage Tim said. "Show us the proper respect."

_Okay, f$£k this guy!_

"I'm not a part of your Society... yet," Kris continued on. "For now, I just want to get your approval to the Silver Conference, and I'll drag it out of you if I have to! And isn't that recommendation from Blaine showing up yet?"

"Oh, we got a letter this morning, yes," Sage Broderick said and showed Kris a crumpled up piece of paper on his desk. "It was like this when we got it. And we understood maybe only half of it because of the handwriting... but I think we got the gist of it."

"And Blaine is a gym leader _and_ an accomplished Pokémon researcher," Morty reminded.

"I wouldn't use the term accomplished," Sage Tim said. "As for the gym leader part, how much weight does that hold nowadays? Just here in Johto we have Falkner becoming a gym leader just because his father used to be one, even though he has no considerable skills to speak of. We give Jasmine her post back even though she took a year off to, and I quote, 'find herself'. And Mahogany Town's Pryce is stubbornly refusing to retire, even though he spends more time lecturing young trainers he meets on the streets than attending the gym!"

"All right, enough," Sage Broderick cut in. "Fact of the matter is that brother Morty is right. We may not have to like it, but we promised to give the girl the training."

"Thank you," Morty sighed. "Kris, do you want to say something?"

"Yeah, I do," Kris said and walked closer to the Wise Trio, casually leaning on their desk. "You call yourself 'wise', claiming you're the wisest in all the region. Is that really true?"

"We don't consider ourselves wiser than our Elder," Sage Allen said. "But yes, all three of us earned our places in this trio through extensive meditation, martial arts training, study of ancient languages and cultural norms as well as hundreds of Pokémon battles."

"But you're all men," Kris said. "As were all those monks in the Sprout Tower, which I'm still convinced has to be just a joke of some kind, by the way. And all the members in your Society I have met so far have been men, too. So what gives? Does every member in your group have mommy issues? Are you afraid of cooties, or that we'll bleed on your holy scriptures? What gives here?"

"The LPS includes female members," Sage Allen said evasively. "But the Wise Trio are the highest-ranking members of the Wise Brotherhood, an ancient order dedicated to the ancient ways-"

"Yeah, yeah, your ' _ancient ways_ ' somehow beat the ways we have today," Kris said, rolling her eyes. "Did you live in the ancient times? No. You don't know what they were like and what kind of people were running the show. So don't give me that crap as an excuse."

"Are you going to continue to be difficult?" Sage Tim asked.

"If I'm making you uncomfortable, then I'm doing it right," Kris said.

The three Sages glanced at each other, then finally seemed to have come to a verdict. Kris backed away from the desk a little.

"Very well, Kris," Sage Broderick said finally. "You may have your training. But since our resources are limited, we'll be sending you to train with the Kimono Girls."

"...the who?" Kris wondered.

With that, Kris was sent away from the Bell Tower to catch the next tram heading to the Kimono Dance Theater. As instructed, Kris got off right in front of a beautiful wooden temple, believing she got the wrong place at first, but the sign clearly said it was the Kimono Dance Theater.

Inside, Kris suddenly felt compelled to take her hat off. Beautiful music played and cushions were placed all over the floor for spectators – but at the moment, as there wasn't a show on, there was just an old man trying to teach his Psyduck to dance.

Kris had indeed heard of the famous 'kimono girls' before and had wanted to see a performance by them, but they rarely televised them and there was no way her mom would drag her all the way to Ecruteak just for that. What Kris didn't know is that apart from their dancing abilities, the kimono girls were also skilled at martial arts, ancient customs and Pokémon battles. At the moment, only one dancer was on stage, meditating.

"Uhh," Kris said to announce her presence.

The kimono girl stood up and motioned for Kris to come closer. Taking off her shoes, Kris slowly made her way to the stage, feeling oddly nervous even though there was no one watching – the old man in a brown suit was focused on his Psyduck's dance routines. Finally, Kris was in front of the surprisingly tall, beautifully dressed woman, feeling overwhelmed by everything.

"The Wise Trio called ahead and informed me of your arrival, Kris," the kimono girl said serenely. "My name is Kuni. Please, follow me to our training facilities."

"Uhh," Kris said again, but followed without objections.

Kuni led Kris past the curtains and backstage down a corridor, past what appeared to be dressing rooms and other facilities, then down the stairs to the basement. In the basement, Kuni and Kris walked through a set of double doors, revealing Kris a wooden-floor dojo where three women in martial arts uniforms trained, a pair of them having a Pokémon battle with their Jolteon and Flareon and one practicing with a wooden stick against moving practice dummies, gracefully leaping out of the way of their attacks and whacking them with a stick with impeccable precision.

"Kris, meet the Ecruteak dance group," Kuni said, prompting a look of disbelief from Kris. "The two having a battle are Sayo and Miki and the one sparring against the dummies is Zuki. Naoko is here somewhere, too, but she's never been one to find her way to places."

"Wha... what is all this?" Kris wondered.

"We do our best to train a few hours almost every day," Kuni said. "We wish to preserve the ancient traditions, be ready to defend our city in case of trouble – and it's good four dances as well. But the main reason we train so hard is that we all chose to do what we love. Now, then..."

"Kuni, who's this?" another voice asked casually.

Kris was confounded again when she saw the fifth kimono girl approach her, wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Even if she knew that these people obviously had personal lives, the shock of seeing them out of costume was still a mild shock to her.

"Our newest trainee," Kuni said. "The one whose arrival we've been preparing for. Kris, this is Naoko."

"Oh, of course, the trials," Naoko said, suddenly dropping the casual tone and speaking in the same serene manner as Kuni. "Welcome, young Kris."

"Yeah, hi," Kris said awkwardly to Naoko before turning to Kuni – for some reason, she felt like the one to ask questions from. "You said _newest_. Did someone come here before?"

"We've battled many trainers and prepared them for the Pokémon League for ten years now," Kuni said. "The latest one came here just a couple of days ago. I believe she was the winner of the Whirl Cup, but we only found out about that after she left – she had just been crowned the winner, after all."

Kris could swear she just popped a blood vessel. Grinding her teeth together, she could only hiss a quiet response: "Well isn't _that_ interesting."

"She was unusually skilled for such a young trainer," Naoko reminisced. "She helped poor Miki when a Team Rocket Grunt was harassing her. The way she defeated his Pokémon was almost effortless."

"Please stop," Kris muttered.

"She spent the rest of the day training with us as thanks," Kuni said. "She battled all five of us and defeated everyone besides me. It was like her mind, body and soul were all in harmony with her Pokémon – it was the most graceful battling I had ever seen."

"Can we talk about something else now?" Kris pleaded.

"Oh, of course," Kuni said, snapping out of her thoughts. "Naoko?"

"It would be my pleasure," Naoko said. "Your intensive training will begin as of this moment, Kris. The first thing you must do – is battle me!"

Reacting faster than Kris thought was humanly possible, Naoko pulled a Poké Ball from seemingly out of nowhere and gracefully tossed it in the air. The Poké Ball opened in mid-air, allowing Naoko to catch the empty capsule, while an Espeon came out of it.

Kris grinned. "Finally," she said. "Lampent, go!"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: New Bark Town, Johto** _

"Cubone, Bone Club!"

"Axew, Dragon Claw!"

Iris and Leaf were having a practice battle on the yard outside Elm's lab. Not only were their Pokémon battling as fiercely as it had been the real thing, but as a way to make things extra difficult, the two had agreed that the trainer had to move with the same pace as the Pokémon, or attempt to do so anyway. So whenever the Pokémon ran or charged, the trainer had to run a few yards forward. This was how Iris had initially trained at her home, but hadn't done it in years. She quickly realized why: it sounded easy, but after just a few minutes into the battle and Iris' legs were screaming for mercy.

Leaf was sweating and saved her breath for the attacks, but didn't show any signs of stopping.

Axew dodged Cubone's attack and retaliated with Dragon Claw, but only managed to hit its skull helmet, doing barely any damage to the ground-type.

"Sorry to hear that, Leaf," Iris panted as the tried to keep up with her Pokémon's moves. "Must be rough – Dragon Dance!"

Backing away from Cubone, Iris moving along with it, Axew did a strange dance that boosted its attack power and speed.

"Don't worry about me," Leaf replied, sounding just as out of breath. "I try not to think about it. Bonemerang!"

Cubone stayed still and instead launched its bone club towards Axew. Iris told Axew to dodge, which it was able to do easily, but before Iris could order a counterattack, the bone club returned, and as Iris hesitated, Axew was hit with it – this still didn't bring the plucky dragon-type down.

"Dragon Rage!" Iris ordered.

Axew launched an orb of blue energy towards Cubone, but even with its heavy helmet and club, Cubone managed to dodge.

"Focus Energy," Leaf told it. "So, why all this training? Figured you as more of the bookworm type."

Cubone became outlined by a blue aura as it concentrated intensely. Iris knew what the attack did, and didn't want to order Axew to advance because of it.

"You never neglect your training," she replied to Leaf before giving an attack order. "And besides... I have my reasons... Dual Chop!"

Iris figured that as a Kanto native, Leaf wouldn't recognize Axew's signature move. Axew quickly advanced on Cubone, but Leaf reacted quickly:

"Headbutt!"

Unfortunately for Leaf, Axew had boosted its speed enough to strike Cubone with its claw and quickly leap out of the attack's way – but Cubone still didn't go down, so Axew charged at it again.

If Leaf was surprised, she showed no delay in her counterattack: "Bone Club!"

Both Axew and Cubone hit each other at the same time. Leaning each other for a while, the two Pokémon stared at each other in the eye for several seconds before collapsing on the ground at the same time.

Leaf and Iris ran to their Pokémon, who were fortunately unharmed.

"Good battle," Leaf praised.

"Yeah, it was," Iris said. "But where'd you get that Cubone?"

"Mr. Fuji," Leaf said as she took the Cubone on her arms, spraying the spot Axew had hit with a Potion. "It's the one whose mother got killed by Team Rocket when it was a baby. The house had taken care of it for three years, but then they got a whole influx of new ones when the Pokémon Tower was torn down, so I offered to take this one. I focused exclusively on training it while on my way to Johto."

Leaf gave Iris a Potion to use on her Pokémon.

"But your Axew is something else," she continued. "I mean, that kind of power from such a tiny Pokémon – you could fit that thing in your hair if you wanted."

"I do," Iris said nonchalantly. "I sometimes let it stay there so it doesn't have to be in the ball all the time. But thanks: I've had her for years now. A family friend gave it to me. Some day it's going to be a mighty Haxorus – it would probably be one already if it wasn't for my studies."

Recovered again, Axew smiled at Iris and indeed hopped on her shoulder and then crawled into her gigantic hair, where it curled itself and went to sleep.

"Almost forgot to ask," Leaf said, deciding not to ask why Iris would keep her Pokémon there, "what are those 'reasons'? I mean, I understand if you don't want to tell, but I just spilled you my life story before this, so just saying..."

Iris stared at the ground for a while before answering unusually somberly:

"Have you heard of the Village of the Dragons?" she asked Leaf.

"No, can't say I have. Is it in Unova?"

Iris nodded. "Close to Opelucid City. I suppose it was built by another dragon clan, kind of like the one who lives here in Johto. There are only a little over a hundred of us..."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Five years earlier...** _

_**Location: Village of Dragons, Unova** _

Iris sat opposite to the village's matriarch, staring at her in silence and watching her slowly finish a cup of tea, clearly not in a hurry to tell her why she had summoned her there.

"How are your parents?" the matriarch suddenly asked after drinking her tea.

"Oh? Uh, fine, thanks. They're both back to a hundred percent now, all thanks to me!"

"Yes... you took admirable care of them this time. But while I know they'd never tell you this, it shouldn't be up for someone so young to take care of a family..."

"Hey, I'm fine!" Iris said cheerfully. "I didn't mind helping!"

"I thought so. And you will do just that soon – you'll do more for us than anyone has done before."

"Um... matriarch?"

Iris watched as two of the matriarch's assistant brought her a basket containing something moving. She gasped as she realized it was a tiny, grayish green dragon Pokémon with big red eyes and two, big tusks protruding from the side of its mouth.

"Oh, an Axew!" Iris squeed. "It's so cute!"

"She's yours," the matriarch said, and Iris gasped even louder. "Your parents organized this. They bred your mother's Charizard with my Haxorus, and this Axew hatched just yesterday."

"F-for real?" Iris whispered as she looked into the Axew's eyes – the baby Axew stared relentlessly back. "Honestly? B-but why?"

The matriarch sighed. "We try not talk about this in front of the children, but this village is slowly dying. Soon this land will be seized from us, and we'll be forced to split apart and move into the cities. Worse yet, many of us may not find jobs there, or won't be able to adapt to a whole new lifestyle. We're doing the best we can, but either way, we need someone to carry on our legacy."

Iris gasped for the third time, even louder than before, pointing at herself wordlessly.

The matriarch nodded. "Unova's dragon master Drayden has promised to help you on your quest. Better yet, your parents have organized for you to be sent to Opelucid Academy, possibly Unova's most famous school. From there on, you'll have a good chance to get into Opelucid University."

"That's... I mean, I always... but..."

"Your parents managed to amass the funds for it," the matriarch said. "It was not easy of them, and they were going to wait a few more years, but I'm afraid our little village may have run out of time. To have Unova's next dragon master come from the Village of Dragons would make sure we wouldn't be forgotten."

"I..."

"Of course, you can always refuse. This is your choice. Either way, this Pokémon will be yours – treat her with love, train her well and spend time with her, and you will be rewarded."

Iris gulped.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Present day, Thursday morning, 10 AM** _

_**Location: Ecruteak Dance Theater, Johto** _

"Time to wake up!"

Kris found herself being rudely shaken awake, but didn't protest, knowing what might happen if she did. She quickly got up from the hastily made bed on the floor of the Ecruteak Dance Theater's dojo, fully clothed and ready for action, practically standing in attention in front of Kuni.

"I'm awake, Ms. Kuni," she yawned, eyes still closed. "What's my first lesson today?"

Her first battle with Naoko had ended with Naoko practically wiping the floor with her, the loss sapping all of Kris' joy for getting the Fog Badge. For the rest of the Monday, the kimono girls had shown her battle techniques and helped her understand things about her Pokémon. Even after her Pokémon studies before starting her journey, Kris had no idea about the sheer number of abilities, natures and attributes Pokémon had. The kimono girls showed her moves that she didn't even know existed... and they taught her Pokémon some rare attacks, too.

Tuesday morning was mostly spent meditating, which is the thing Kris was the least good at. No matter what, she couldn't concentrate and found herself easily distracted or bored, wishing that there was a computer around. But when the afternoon was devoted to martial arts training, Kris practically longed for meditating. The kimono girls had shown her some few basic things about what a Pokémon master was expected to know: judo, Tang Soo Do, t'ai chi ch'uan, kendo and archery – which apparently were just a fraction of the program. Kris barely had time to try most of these out until the evening came, and spent most of her time working out on the treadmill or trying out those wooden slats the kimono girls trained with. Most of those efforts just ended up with painful joints and some involuntarily giggling from the dancers before they regained their composure.

By Wednesday, Kris had accepted the fact that outside breakfast, dinner and bathroom breaks, she would be constantly trained. Every muscle in her body screamed for her to stop at one point and Kris considered complaining many times, but couldn't lose her face in front of five master trainers. After meditation and more martial arts practice, Kris would face the rest of the kimono girls in battle.

Kris only managed to win the last two of her battles, however, and Croc, Lampent, Murkrow, Shrew (who had recovered during Kris' training) and even Shuckie were just as beat as their trainer by then. Kris had never exercised much, pretty much only used to walking and the occasional jogging – most of her energies were spent avoiding exercise.

"Your training is over," Kuni informed.

_F**k yeah!_

"Oh, already," Kris said groggily. "Well, damn, I was getting the hang of it."

"No, not yet," Kuni said bluntly, "and we would have gladly kept you here one day longer. Even with your faults, you certainly don't lack for perseverance – though I would like you to avoid swearing so much in the future."

"Sorry," Kris said with a shrug.

"It's not a big deal," Kuni assured. "But even with all your efforts trying to hide it, I could easily sense that you were close to collapsing several times there. All you had to do was ask for a break, you know. Energy shouldn't be wasted, and Pokémon masters in particular need to know when they and their Pokémon have hit their limit."

"Oh," Kris muttered, hanging her head. "I'm sorry, I thought-"

"Either way," Kuni interrupted, "the reason you're stopping early is that we've been informed that the next part of your trial will take place in Mahogany Town tomorrow. You can spend this day in getting there, hopefully taking the opportunity to train your Pokémon while you're at it."

"Mahogany Town," Kris repeated, still trying to wake her body up. "Wuh... what's happening there?"

"We're not at liberty to say," Kuni smiled. "And one more thing... take these."

Kuni handed Kris an object wrapped in cloth. Opening the bundle, Kris found out that it contained two lumpy, dark purple stones, both having something dark inside them.

"Being trainers specialized in evolution, we own several copies of nearly every possible type of evolutionary stones," Kuni explained. "Those two are Dusk Stones... you'll find that they're exactly what your Murkrow and Lampent need."

"...whoa," Kris whispered. "I didn't even know those two could evolve! Thanks! But before I leave – you seem to be a pretty knowledgeable bunch."

Kuni took the compliment with a graceful smile.

"Do you know anything about Giovanni?" Kris asked. "You know, the ex-"

"Ex-leader of Team Rocket," Kuni interjected. "I'm aware of the name – believe me. Even here in Johto, there was great relief when Red defeated him three years ago and he apparently vowed not to return."

"Mmyeah," Kris mumbled

She almost bit her tongue trying not say anything. After she and Blaine encountered him, Blaine had explicitly told her not to spread information about him around. There was enough fear in Johto with the Masked Man on the loose, even if day-to-day activities flowed seemingly normally. Even Kris couldn't be too worried about the Mask, seeing as both the International Police and the Legendary Pokémon Society were on the case. And Giovanni himself felt like a bad dream of some kind for the longest time...

"If you want any details about him, I'm afraid I don't know much more than the next person," Kuni continued thoughtfully. "There were some rumors that he descends from the ninjas of Mahogany Town."

"N-ninjas?"

"Many cities in Johto are home to people dedicated to the old ways," Kuni said proudly. "Us and the monks here in Ecruteak and Violet, the dragon clan in Blackthorn, the Slowpoke enthusiasts in Azalea..."

"This region is frickin' nuts," Kris muttered. "I mean, not you guys, and at least here they worship Ho-Oh and stuff like that, which makes sense, but Slowpoke? And Bellsprout? Honestly."

"The ninjas are long gone now, though," Kuni said. "But a few years ago, they were a considerable threat. They worked with Team Rocket under their then ruler, and even long into Giovanni's time, but their numbers dwindled, many were arrested or killed and eventually only a handful were left, so their society was shut down. As for Giovanni, most people only remember him as a ruthless businessman and an overwhelmingly competent Pokémon battler, but some believed that he was trained by those ninjas and is a master of all sorts of martial arts."

Kris remembered the way Giovanni had kicked his Poké Balls – not only did he sent out his Pokémon faster than anyone else Kris had seen, but they also went further and more accurately than Kris could ever hope for – especially because she sucked at throwing.

"Why do you ask?" Kuni wondered.

"Uh, well... you heard about that Masked Man incident, right?" Kris fluttered. "I mean, that could be..."

Kris hadn't thought about it that way. It _could_ be him. But why hadn't he used the mask then? He could have grabbed Mewtwo from her in a matter of seconds. And didn't the Masked Man himself give orders to the Pokémon before?

"I should really get going," Kris said and shook her head clear. She bowed at Kuni as well as she could. "Thank you so much for all this training. I hope I can repay the favor sometime."

Kuni bowed too, though much more gracefully than Kris. "The pleasure was ours."

Kris wasn't sure if that was sarcasm, but decided not to dwell on it. Instead heading east, and towards Route 42.

Most of that route was dominated by the mountain that could be seen all the way from Ecruteak: Mt. Mortar. Not only was it chock full of hikers and trainers attempting to climb to the summit, but inside there was a ridiculously complex network of caves and tunnels Kris was quite fed up with. Fortunately, to get to Mahogany Town, Kris only had to cross a lake. The Kimono Girls had taught Croc a new technique: Surf, which allowed the summoning of a crushing wave of water. It also improved Croc's swimming skills, so it could now effortlessly carry Kris over the lake.

But as Kris walked by the lakefront, she saw something glittering between the trees. At first she paid it no mind, but she did a double take when she realized the glittering came from something blue and crystalline. Wasting no time, Kris ran to the forest instead, running after the source of the glitter until she was stopped by a thicket of thin trees – fortunately, that was not an obstacle for her either.

Kris opened Shrew's Poké Ball, and the Sandshrew popped up, full of fighting spirit and ready to go.

"Shrew, Cut!"

This was also something the Kimono Girls had taught her: by focusing its energy, Sandshrew could mow down obstacles with its claws, a destructive attack in any battle. It also became useful when clearing a path, and once Shrew had successfully sliced some of the trees out of the way, Kris and Shrew continued running.

But when they came to a clearing, the blue glitter was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn it!" Kris said out loud. "I knew I saw it – you saw it too, right Shrew?"

Shrew nodded, but then sniffed the air and suddenly squealed and pointed at something. Kris looked at where Shrew was pointing and almost popped another blood vessel when she saw a girl about her age and height wearing blue overalls and a ridiculous puffy hat. The girl was leaning casually against a tree trunk.

"Oh, I thought I smelled cream cheese," Lyra remarked. "It's been a few days, hasn't it, Kris? What have you been up to?"

"You know, training," Kris spat through her teeth. "I assumed you'd be in Blackthorn City by now – or does the big, scary mountain over there scare you?"

Lyra smiled smugly and pulled something out of her pocket – a small case that looked like a makeup kit, but instead contained badges – seven of them, including both the Zephyr Badge and Fog Badge.

"Seeing as I already conquered Pryce's gym, I have nothing but time," Lyra bragged, snapping the badge case shut and pocketing it before Kris had more time to admire the badges. "How many badges do _you_ have, Kris?"

" _Well_ , it's not the amount that counts," Kris said, stretching the 'well'. "It's how you use them. That is, not flashing them out to every person in the vicinity, especially since I'm underage and everything... wait, how did this get here?"

"Cute," Lyra remarked. "Actually, I'm glad I ran into you. See, I was investigating this sparkling blue glow I saw..."

"Don't you dare," Kris growled.

"...and I figured that there's only one thing that can make such a glow..."

"Don't even think about it!"

"...swamp gas!"

"...what."

"Yeah, it's all over the place," Lyra muttered, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Oh, but anyway, I also wanted to tell you something. Before the Whirl Cup, I ran into this weird guy that was looking for you."

"Was it this obnoxious blonde douche in a blue coat?" Kris asked.

"Yup."

"Well, I already met him one time too many," Kris said and frowned at Lyra. "Why do you care, anyway?"

Lyra folded her arms and looked away melodramatically. "I don't," she argued. "But I promised that guy, and no matter how annoying he was, I keep my promises. Unlike _some_ -"

"Oh, go fu-"

"Hey, by the way!" Lyra exclaimed, suddenly smiling cheerfully. "We didn't get to test each other out in the Whirl Cup!"

"...do what?"

"Battle, you know?" Lyra clarified. "I mean, you did better than I expected, enough to make me wonder if you'd actually give me a fun match – most of mine end so quickly."

"Yeah, probably as soon as they meet you," Kris retorted. "But sure... I've wanted to do this for a while."

Kris and Lyra positioned themselves about ten yards away from each other, the point between them directly in the center of the clearing.

"As have I," Lyra said. "I'll even sweeten the deal for you – I'll let _you_ choose your Pokémon first."

"Doesn't that give _you_ the advantage?"

"...oh, right," Lyra muttered, her smile fading for a moment, though she recovered from it quickly. "Well, it doesn't matter – there's only one Pokémon I'd use against you anyway. One-on-one battle with no time limit – is that okay with you?"

"You bet," Kris smirked. "I don't even have to waste time opening a Poké Ball – Shrew, go!"

Shrew ran to the battlefield, assuming its position about five feet in front of Kris, tiny fists raised. Lyra smiled even wider.

"Perfect," she said and threw her own Poké Ball. "Scorch, go!"

'Scorch' was no doubt the Cyndaquil she had been given by Professor Elm – and Kris was right, except the Cyndaquil had evolved into a Quilava. Its body was longer and slimmer than Cyndaquil's, it had grown a mane of sorts made out of fire and its eyes were finally open. Kris took the opportunity to scan it for any useful information:

" _.._ _.why do you even bother_?" SkrillDex wondered. " _Quilava, the Volcano Pokémon, and the evolved form of Cyndaquil. Type: Fire. Height: two feet and eleven inches. Weight: 41.9 pounds. It intimidates its foes using its flames – when this Pokémon turns its back, it is ready to use the fire attack on its back_."

Lyra folded her arms. "First," she said mockingly. "What the hell is up with that PokéDex? Second, do you seriously need that gizmo to win? I have a type disadvantage here and I'll still beat you to the ground without even breaking a sweat!"

Kris scowled. "Shrew, Rock Tomb!"

"Scorch, Flame Wheel!"

But neither the Sandshrew nor the Quilava obeyed their trainers. They just stared at each other across the battlefield.

"Hey!" both Kris and Lyra yelled at the same time.

The Pokémon still didn't pay attention to their trainers. Instead, they slowly approached each other, and when they met, they started sniffing each other. Shrew in particular was sniffing furiously, its ears twitching as it did so.

And suddenly, Shrew lunged at Scorch – but not to attack it.

Shrew _hugged_ it.

"What are you doing? !" Kris yelled. "She's... he's... which is it?" she asked Lyra.

"It's a she!" Lyra snapped, though her attention was on her Pokémon. "Scorch, what's going on? You've never disobeyed me before!"

"Pfft," Kris scoffed.

"This is an important match!" Lyra shouted, her first clenched and her face red. "You can't embarrass me at a moment like this!"

"...is this some tactical crap?" Kris asked Shrew. "You're lulling her to a false sense of security, right?"

Shrew looked back at Kris, staring at for a while before squeaking – Kris wished she had at least some semblance of an idea of what it meant.

_Maybe some kind of super-sciencey translator... ah, that's just dumb!_

Scorch did the same for her trainer, making a sound of its own, to which Lyra just stared, dumbfounded. Kris was surprised by Lyra's reaction, though: after a while, she just folded her arms and resignation and nodded at the Quilava.

Then, Scorch dragged Shrew away by its paw, the two Pokémon disappearing into the woods.

"Hey, Shrew," Kris called after them halfheartedly. "Shrew! I... what just happened?"

"They'll come back," Lyra sighed. "But our battle is going to wait. Not that there was ever any doubt of the final score, of course."

Stretching her arms and yawning, Lyra just walked to the edge of the clearing, sat down under a tree's shade and leaned back. Kris followed her, though she had no idea why. Instead of sitting next to her, though, Kris sat in the shade of another tree a few feet away.

"Well, time for lunch, then!" Lyra said in an oddly cheerful tone. "Come out, everyone!"

Kris watched as Lyra opened her other Poké Balls. She had six Pokémon, counting Scorch. Kris recognized Starmie, Ampharos, Misdreavus and Heracross as Pokémon native to Johto, and assumed the large bird Lyra was feeding unappetizing brown pellets to was Braviary, Rufflet's evolution.

"Ehh, might as well," Kris muttered and let out her own Pokémon: Croc, Lampent, Murkrow and Shuckie.

"Oh, wow, a Shuckle," Lyra said in a happy tone that immediately annoyed Kris – Lyra herself was brushing her Ampharos. "Where'd you get one of those?"

"Why are you making conversation with me?" Kris wondered. "Don't we hate each other?"

Lyra responded with a wide-eyed stare, shrugged and went back to brushing Ampharos and humming out of tune.

As Kris went to feeding her own Pokémon, something annoyed her so much that she was compelled to answer the question:

"This... this guy from Cianwood gave it to me, but just temporarily. Do you, uh, remember that Silver guy?"

"Oh, the one I railed through at the Whirl Cup?" Lyra said with a laugh. "Oh my gosh... isn't he that creep from Cherrygrove City?"

"Yeah," Kris said, finding it oddly easy to talk to Lyra despite everything. "He, uh, stole that Sneasel he was using from this Shuckle's owner, so he gave it to me for safekeeping. And Silver also stole Elm's Chikorita."

"The one that was supposed to go to the Morimoto's kid?" Lyra asked, and Kris nodded slowly, still wondering what was happening. "Wow, who knew he was such a bastard."

"Speaking of which," Kris couldn't help but to say, "where's Ethan?"

Lyra stopped brushing her Pokémon for a second, but continued it like nothing had happened before answering:

"That's a puzzle."

"You're not traveling with him?" Kris asked.

"Does it look like it?" Lyra countered.

"Sore spot?"

"No. Just a dumb question. I don't really care where he is either."

"You two are not together anymore?"

"What galaxy do you live in?" Lyra snapped. "We haven't been 'together' in like a year, and even then it lasted for like three months, hardly even that. I don't care about him... or any guy for that matter."

"Oh," Kris said.

The issue was clearly a sore spot for Lyra... but Kris decided to drop it anyway. That would be saved for when they battled next.

"What do you think they're doing?" Kris wondered out loud. "Shrew and Scorch, I mean. Shrew was eager to fight before."

"Like I said, they'll be back soon," Lyra said calmly. "I think they wanted to talk about something in private."

Kris snorted. "Did she tell that to you?"

"Hey, I understand my Pokémon!" Lyra argued. "Any true Pokémon trainer would."

As Kris and Lyra continued bickering, Shrew and Scorch had retreated deeper into the forest to another clearing, allowing the sun to shine right at them as they relaxed on the ground. Scorch had curled itself up while the smaller Shrew rested his head against her side.

"Quill..." Shrew muttered after a long period of silence.

"Mm?"

"I... I'm sorry, I still can't believe it's you..."

"I know. But you can call me Scorch now. Quill was just a name that they... that _they_ gave me..."

"You're actually here," Shrew mumbled. "I can feel your warmth."

"Is something wrong?" Scorch asked.

"I... no, nothing, it doesn't matter anymore," Shrew said quietly. "I ran, I mean, I _think_ I ran into some Pokémon that had escaped Navel Rock as well. How did you do it?"

"I don't know what happened exactly. There were explosions all over me, Pokémon scrambling on top of each other. I passed out, then woke up in the middle of rubble. I couldn't move... until some humans came."

Shrew hissed. "What did they do to you?"

"They saved me," Scorch said. "Nursed me back to health and sent me to a breeding center where they'd look after me. They even fixed the condition that was sapping my health and suppressing my powers. I know I'm repeating myself by saying this, Shrew-"

"You were right, I know," Shrew mumbled. "I'm just so happy that you're okay."

Quill raised its head to look at Shrew, noticing the still-healing bruise on his head.

"What happened to you?" Scorch asked softly.

Shrew hung its head and closed its eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry for everything. For failing to save everyone. For leaving you there."

"I _chose_ to stay," Scorch insisted.

"But you wouldn't have had to if I had done more for you," Shrew insisted. "And not just you – I failed everyone I tried to save. I... in order to escape, I had to activate the teleport. I was told that it would destroy this facility. I knew you were still fighting out there. But I did it anyway... I'm so sorry. I thought I'd get away from all that guilt, all those memories by ending it all... with a rock to the head."

"Shrew!" Scorch gasped.

"I know... and I'm glad it failed," Shrew said, his voice hoarse and his body shivering as he spoke. "That girl you saw back there, Kris? She has helped me a lot. I wasn't too sure about her at first, but... I think I want to keep helping her. And stay in her team. No human has ever cared about me like this before."

"I know how you feel," Scorch said as she wrapped her paw around Shrew. "When I heard they were sending me to a human, I was terrified. I was panicking and thinking of running away... but the first thing my new trainer did when she got me was introduce herself to me and _ask_ me if I wanted to join her, giving me the chance to go away. I took a chance and it paid off. Lyra is a bit... _strange_ -"

Shrew chuckled.

"-but I want to help her reach her goals. And protect her. She's given me something I'd never think I'd get: family."

Shrew turned to look at Scorch, his black eyes shiny and misty.

"So... does that mean we have to say goodbye again?" he asked.

"Of course not!" Scorch said. "Now we know that we're still out there, fighting, being happy – living! And besides... did you say your trainer's name was Kris?"

"Yeah..."

"That's funny," Scorch mused. "I've heard that name quite a few times, actually. Something tells me we'll be seeing each other again..."

Shrew sighed in content, touching Scorch's paw with his own.

"By the way," Shrew said suddenly, "this may sound dumb, but... you evolved!"

"Uh huh," Scorch said. "I never thought I'd live long enough for that to happen either. Life is surprising, isn't it?"

"I still haven't," Shrew mumbled.

"You will one day," Scorch assured. "Or maybe not. I think you're just fine the way you are now."

"Thanks," Shrew squeaked. "You look very good, too – and grown pretty fierce, apparently. I could see it from your eyes. Before you recognized me, you were ready to tear me a fourth one."

"I'm sure you've had some intense battles, too," Scorch said.

"Ohh, you could say that," Shrew said. "Have you ever heard of this thing called 'Mewtwo'?"

Shrew and Scorch's catching up took another hour, during which Kris and Lyra had stopped their bickering and spent most of that time tending to their Pokémon in awkward silence. Finally, Shrew and Scorch returned, and after giving stern talks to their Pokémon, the two returned them to their Poké Balls.

"Well, that was odd," Lyra remarked as she grabbed her bag and stood up, Kris finding herself mimicking her movements. "I guess I should return the others as well."

Suddenly remembering something, Kris ignored Lyra and took the package Kuni had given her and opened it, taking the two stones out. Having recalled her own Pokémon, Lyra watched curiously as Kris touched Murkrow and Lampent with them, and gasped as she saw them glow and evolve.

Soon enough, two brand new Pokémon stood before Kris. Lampent had evolved into a bigger, chandelier-shaped Pokémon with four appendages instead of two. Murkrow's new evolution looked almost completely different, growing larger in all the other areas except its head, which shrank along with its beak, also growing a puffy white crest of feathers on its chest. Kris immediately scanned them.

" _Chandelure, the Luring Pokémon_ ," SkrillDex reported about Lampent's evolution. " _The evolved form of Lampent. It uses spirit energy to fuel its fire, and can put its foes in a hypnotic trance by waving its arms_."

Then the Murkrow evolution.

" _Honchkrow, the Big Boss Pokémon, and the evolved form of Murkrow. Known for its ruthless nature, this bird Pokémon uses swarms of Murkrow as minions in the wild, spending its time grooming itself as the Murkrow bring it food_."

"Badass," Kris smirked and returned her Pokémon as well.

"Holy crepes!" Lyra exclaimed. "I didn't know those two could evolve! How did you...?"

"Iono," Kris shrugged. "Some stone thing... what was it called anyway? Dark Stone? Twilight Stone? Something like that."

Lyra nodded.

"Well, I'm off to train at Mt. Silver," she said. "I'm guessing you're going to Mahogany Town, huh?"

"Yeah," Kris said. "It was go... I mean, it was too bad we didn't get to battle. Lucky for you."

"Hah! Yeah, I guess, lucky for me I didn't waste time on you – my Pokémon would just probably get _weaker_ defeating yours!"

"You know, I could take you a hell of a lot more seriously if you weren't wearing those stupid clothes."

"Hey, my mom bought these for me! Unlike you, I actually am fond of my mother!"

"So is half of New Bark Town!"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Coastline near Goldenrod City, Johto** _

Wes fell into the ground after another punch from a tall, gaunt man with wiry, serpentine hair. As Wes about to go for his Poké Ball, the man gave the Claydol floating next to him an order:

"Claydol, Ancientpower!"

Jagged rocks suddenly flew towards Wes, one hitting him in the hand and another knocking him down again. The two were fighting near the edge of a cliff directly by the sea.

"You know, Wesley," the man gloated as he stood above Wes. "I could just kill you and take it from you, but I'm such a nice guy and we're such good old friends that I'mma cut you a deal. Give the Griseous Orb to me willingly, and I might consider letting you crawl back to us..."

"Well..." Wes grunted, cringing in pain. "It wouldn't be nice to let history remember you as just the guy who killed me, Nascour... so all right."

Slowly, Wes dragged himself up, as the serpentine-haired man, Nascour, gestured his Claydol to stand down. Slowly, Wes opened his coat, revealing a large octagonal artifact stuffed in his pocket. Nascour's stare intensified as Wes slowly pulled the Griseous Orb from his pocket and let it rest on his hand.

"Before I do this," Wes said, "who's ' _us_ ' this time, Nascour? I would have thought being a flunky would be tiring – or are you really that unable to come up with your own plans?"

Nascour laughed. "I know your ploys, _Wesley_ ," he mocked. "Just hand it over – you're hopelessly outmatched."

"Oh, you want it so bad?" Wes asked. "Funny thing, though... you have to be careful with it. It's surprisingly light – not to mention... slippery!"

Before Nascour could even blink, Wes tossed the Griseous Orb high in the air behind him. Nascour made a desperate rush towards it, but the artifact fell off the cliff and into the sea, lost in the crashing waves.

"You son of a... Claydol, Psybeam!"

But Wes had already dodged away and pulled out his own Poké Ball.

"Umbreon, go!"


	12. Red Gyarados

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For her next trial, Kris must assist Lance in dealing with something highly strange happening in Mahogany Town.

_**Location: On the outskirts of Mahogany Town** _

Silver was thrown on his ass by the shock wave of the attack that had just knocked out his Meganium.

"Get up!" Silver yelled at it. "Fight, damn it! I can't lose to this guy!"

When the smoke cleared, the red-haired figure with a Dragonite just glared at him, his cape briefly flowing in the wind his attack had raised.

"Admit defeat like a real Pokémon trainer," Lance told him coldly. "I just took out your team of five using only my Dragonite. I think there's something you should learn from this."

Gritting his teeth and enraged by the humiliation, Silver pulled himself on his feet and stared at his Meganium, who still wouldn't budge. Grunting in annoyance, Silver finally recalled the grass-type.

"Your Meganium only recently evolved, didn't it?" Lance asked rhetorically. "That means it's still not used to its new body. Furthermore, you clearly put your effort in forcing it to evolve, whipping it past its limit while simultaneously ignoring the rest of your team – they didn't even stand a chance against my Dragonite."

Silver stared at the much taller Champion, wanting to run away but knowing it would humiliate him even more, so he had to allow Lance to continue.

"Besides, the way you treat your Pokémon, you wouldn't have stood a chance no matter how powerful you were," Lance continued mercilessly. "You seemed to have missed the point entirely, little one. From the spirit you showcased when you demanded a battle with me, I even had some hope you'd prove a challenge, but I was sorely disappointed. This was just a waste of my time."

"...shut up!" was all Silver could come up with.

Lance merely hopped on his Dragonite's back and flew away, causing another gust of wind to throw dust at Silver's face. Shielding his eyes, Silver glared after him until he was just a small dot in the distance, unable to comprehend what had gone wrong.

**Chapter Twelve: _Red Gyarados_**

_**Location: Mahogany Gym, Johto** _

It was Friday morning, with ten days left until the Silver Conference. Trainers could participate by paying an enormous participation fee, having registered as trainers a year in advance and by signing up months before the tournament even begun. There was two ways to enter the tournament unconditionally: either by gaining eight gym badges or conquering the trials created by the local monks and the Legendary Pokémon Society.

Though Kris had no need to collect gym badges, she had nonetheless challenged Mahogany's Gym Leader Pryce. The training her Pokémon got was one reason, of course. Kris hadn't planned to challenge a gym leader before Clair, who was apparently Johto's strongest, but seeing the smug way Lyra had demonstrated her own badges made Kris all the more determined to get more.

"Chandelure, Energy Ball!"

"Dewgong, Icy Wind!"

As Pryce was an expert with ice-types, Kris had logically chosen to go with Chandelure, who had defeated Pryce's Piloswine, but had a harder time against Dewgong, who kept diving in the pool of icy water in the middle of the gym to avoid Chandelure's attacks while splashing copious amounts of water around, forcing Chandelure to keep back. However, Chandelure had endured the attacks, and when it finally gained an opening, it fired at Dewgong with a grass-type move Kris had curiously found from the ground while training the previous day. The attack brought Dewgong down after a long, grueling battle.

Smiling amicably, Pryce, who had calmly given orders to his Pokémon from his chair, started to slowly get up to come and meet Kris, but fortunately Kris took the hint and walked over to him instead, receiving the snowflake-shaped Glacier Badge from him.

"Humph," Pryce grumbled. "I don't seem to be quite as quick to react as I was during my youth. You truly have shown yourself worthy of the Glacier Badge – you've come a long way in such a short time, Kris."

"Y-you remember me?" Kris wondered – when Kris had come to challenge him, he had treated her like a stranger and Kris hadn't corrected him, not wanting to offend him in case his memory had gone bad.

"Of course, but before every battle, I must shed any personal feelings I might have for a challenger," Pryce said. "It's funny – I have seen and suffered a lot in my life, trained Pokémon before you or even your parents were born. Perhaps it's finally time for me to step aside... did you, by any chance, manage to make you Totodile obey you, Kris?"

"Oh, definitely!" Kris said. "I even made it evolve."

Pryce nodded. "Yes, quite, and you're taking the Silver Conference challenge, I hear... you know, I haven't yet chosen a successor for my gym for when I retire. You wouldn't be such a bad candidate..."

"Y... y-you m-mean that?" Kris stuttered before collecting herself and clearing her throat. "I mean, surely you're still going to have this gym for many years – you're still in fighting shape."

"My Pokémon are, anyway," Pryce laughed. "But that's because I train myself and them every day under a waterfall in my gym. Even if my body weakens, I have kept my mind as sharp as ever... or so I thought until this battle. Maybe I'm just rusty."

"That's probably it," Kris smiled. "I have to get going – thanks for everything, Pryce!"

Pryce nodded at her. "Thank _you_ for the battle, and remember my offer – you'll hear from me soon, I think."

Kris left the gym feeling happier than ever, and the warm, sunny weather and, for once, the lack of crowds reflected her mood. The badge actually felt insignificant when compared to the words Pryce had spoken to her.

She even got to wondering about which type she should use once she became a gym leader of if she should surprise her opponent with multi-types until she realized that this was probably something Pryce told every trainer in order to encourage them to do their best. Still, the effect was there – Kris even kept smiling when she heard a familiar annoying mechanical voice beeping from her bag:

" _Finished installing update 17896... rebooting... your OS version is currently PokéDex 6.1.2. Would you like to review the newly installed features, username Kris_?"

"Took you a while," Kris muttered. "Where do these 'updates' come from, anyway?"

" _From the laboratory of Professor Oak, the inventor of the original PokéDex. This model has been designed by Professor Augustine "Hunky McGorgeous" Sycamore from Kalos._ "

"Who?" Kris wondered. "Never mind, actually. What new features?"

" _This model has been upgraded with the Holo Caster software_."

"What's that?"

" _Username Kris' ignorance surpasses even previously established parameters. Product description: the Holo Caster, designed by Lysandre Labs, allows instant communication through holograms._ _The software has been installed into the new PokéDex by Professor Oak, and has only been distributed to a few choice trainers selected by Professor Elm._ _Alert: Holo Clip received_."

"Wow, already?" Kris said. "Wow, I'm more popular than Lyra that one day in school when she stuffed tissue paper in her... uh, open the clip, please, SkrillDex."

To Kris' surprise and excitement, SkrillDex displayed a hologram of a tall man with spiky red hair wearing a cape.

" _Hello, Kris_ ," the hologram of Lance said flatly. " _I'll assume you have reached Mahogany Town by now as the Kimono Girls_ _instructed. I hope you are ready for your next trial, as I urgently require your assistance at the lake to the north, the Lake of Rage_. _Please get here as soon as possible_."

The hologram turned off, Kris shoved the mouthy PokéDex in her bag and opened the Poké Ball containing her new favorite mode of transportation: Honchkrow. Though it wasn't big enough for Kris to ride on it and it certainly couldn't carry Kris too far or for too long of a time, it was still extremely useful in these situations.

"We'll head north, Honchkrow!" Kris instructed.

Honchkrow circled around Kris' head for a while, then swooped right past her, allowing Kris to grab its legs. Honchkrow didn't even slow down as it grabbed Kris with it, while Kris felt a strange sensation in her stomach as she was suddenly jerked in the air and flown to the north, towards the Lake of Rage.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Lake of Rage, Johto** _

Honchkrow landed Kris right behind a mob of people blocking access to the lakefront. Kris understood why the streets of Mahogany had been so empty: everyone and their cousin were shoving each other and chattering excitedly, all wanting to see something happening on the lake. Through the chatter, Kris could hear sounds of Pokémon roaring and attacking, but was too short to get a clear view.

"Screw this," Kris grumbled. "Honchkrow, fly me over these people!"

Honchkrow once again swooped down and allowed Kris to grab it, flying above the crowd, past the trees previously blocking the view and down the hill leading to the lake. What Kris saw next made her jaw drop: a Dragonite was flying above the lake, randomly attacking a Pokémon Kris didn't recognize at first. It was a serpentine dragon-like Pokémon that was well over twenty-five feet tall and a had a huge, gaping mouth which it tried to grab the Dragonite with. It looked like a Gyarados in every other aspect, except...

...it was red.

Carefully taking out SkrillDex mid-flight, Kris haphazardly pointed the device in the red Gyarados' direction.

"SkrillDex, explain!" Kris yelled at the machine. "What's going on?"

But SkrillDex's screen was static and its mechanical voice came out garbled, spewing nonsense:

" _hzztergl... error: unable to connect to main database... fzzt... Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do..._ "

"Oh, go to hell!" Kris snapped. "If this is another trick, I swear..."

But SkrillDex could only make incomprehensible garbled sounds at her. Kris frowned, but decided to check the situation later. Instead, Kris flew closer to the Dragonite, and as she thought, saw a familiar red-haired man riding it.

"Lance!" Kris yelled, and Honchkrow took the hint and stopped above the Dragonite, flapping its wings just enough to hover mid-air. "I got your message! What's going on?"

"That Gyarados is out of control!" Lance explained, Dragonite hovering mid-air as well as the red Gyarados submerged. "Not only are Gyarados usually a rare occurrence, but to see a red one... it has been forced to evolve somehow, no doubt. It's almost five feet taller than a regular one, and presumably more powerful as well. If you want to get through your trial, help me stop... watch out!"

Honchkrow managed to dodge without telling as Gyarados surfaced again, charging at its flying enemies, its four fangs exposed, each of the teeth as big as Kris' fist.

"Dragonite, Dragon Pulse!" Lance ordered.

Dragonite launched a destructive ball of turquoise energy towards the Gyarados, but the red dragon dodged the attack effortlessly.

"Honchkrow, Aerial Ace!" Kris ordered.

But Kris' determined attack order soon turned to cries of horror as Honchkrow suddenly tossed her in the air and swooped to catch her, allowing her to land on its back. As Honchkrow's body was so small, Kris' head and limbs were hanging over the dark-type, who finally obeyed and flew straight at the Gyarados with breakneck speed, Kris almost literally snapping her neck as it happened. The attack was too fast for Gyarados as Honchkrow scratched it with its claws.

The attack hurt Gyarados enough for it to take notice of Honchkrow, retorting by firing a multicolored blast of fire towards them. Honchkrow dodged, but only just, Kris feeling the heat of the attack as she clung on her Pokémon in terror.

"Okay, it might take more than this to bring it down," she whimpered.

Lance had ordered Dragonite to attack again with Dragon Pulse, which Gyarados dodged. Kris wondered why that happened – Lance was the Pokémon League Champion and a dragon expert, he should be able to bring down one little rampaging Gyarados.

With Gyarados focusing on trying to bite Dragonite, Kris grabbed her bag and rummaged through it in desperation, trying to find something that could be of help. Noticing Gyarados managing to bite Dragonite's leg and wound the Pokémon gravely, Kris sent out her Chandelure without further hesitation.

"Chandelure, Will-O-Wisp!" Kris ordered.

But Gyarados dove in the lake and avoided the slow-moving projectile, forcing Dragonite to fly out of the attack's way instead. When Gyarados resurfaced, Chandelure managed to float out of the way, but was hit by the splashing water instead, shuddering in discomfort.

Continuing to rummage through her bag, Kris finally found what she was looking for: a small brown pouch filled with red capsules. Remembering what Lance said, a realization hit Kris.

Kris told Honchkrow to fly closer to Lance, allowing her to scream her idea at him:

"Lance! We need to attack at the same time so I can get close to it!"

Lance put his thumb up and Kris assumed it meant he agreed. She told Honchkrow to fly high, and when she reached the right altitude, she waved at Lance.

"Dragonite, Thunderbolt!" he ordered.

"Chandelure, Shadow Ball!" Kris yelled.

Gyarados dodged the Thunderbolt but was hit by the Shadow Ball, exactly at the same time when Kris ordered Honchkrow to fly directly above the red Gyarados. Throwing caution in the wind, Kris waved her arm directly in front of the Gyarados' face. As it opened its mouth even wider to try to chomp her, Kris opened the brown pouch and dropped all of its contents in its mouth.

The Secretpotion sliding down its throat, the Gyarados closed its mouth and grimaced, stopping it from moving. Lance saw his opening and flew closer towards it.

"Thunder Wave!" he ordered.

Thin streams of electricity erupted from the Dragonite's antennae, wrapping around Gyarados and paralyzing the red beast. Flying right next to the Pokémon, Lance threw a black and white Poké Ball with yellow markings at it. Gyarados was sucked inside, and Lance flew under the falling ball, capturing it expertly, his face completely blank all the while. Kris recalled Chandelure and followed Lance to the lakefront, which was fortunately cleared of people, most of them either too scared to come downhill or prevented from coming further by guards or the police.

Lance and Kris landed together, both of them staring at the Poké Ball shaking on Lance's palm. The shaking seemed to take forever, but eventually, it started to slow down a little, and then stopped, the red light in the middle of the ball turning off.

Kris sighed in relief, while Lance just pocketed the ball, completely unfazed.

"Thank you," he said finally. "You were of great help. How did you manage to incapacitate it?"

"Well, I don't recommend this to the folks at home," Kris started as modestly as she could, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, "but I had some pretty potent medicine with me that I didn't have any other use for. Since you said something had caused it go on a rampage, I figured a little medicine... well, a _lot_ of medicine, is all you need."

"Smart," Lance said, though it didn't sound like praise and more like just a general observation. "A bit irresponsible, but I believe far more than the amount you used is needed to cause an overdose. You were correct in believing that the Gyarados was sick, however. Don't worry, though – I'll take it under my wing."

"Uh, good," Kris said. "But what was up with that anyway? My PokéDex showed only static when I tried scanning it..."

Kris took SkrillDex out of her bag and tried to demand an explanation, but the holographic screen was _still_ showing just static. Kris frowned, while Lance just nodded.

"As I thought," he mused. "My PokéGear didn't work, either. I believe something nearby is directing a powerful radio transmission at a certain frequency that caused this disturbance."

Lance swung his cape as he turned around dramatically, ready to climb on his Dragonite again.

"I have to go," Lance said. "I have to investigate what's causing this transmission." He turned around to look at Kris. "As I said, thank you – you passed this test. I recommend heading back to Ecruteak for more training as you wait for your next trial."

"That was it?!" Kris wondered, eyes wide. "These trials were supposed to be super-hard! Let me join you when you investigate this thing!"

"No," Lance said. "It's too dangerous, even for a member of the Legendary Pokémon Society – if my suspicions are correct, that is."

"But-"

Lance wouldn't listen, however. He climbed on the back of his Dragonite and softly nudged the Pokémon's sides with his boots. The Dragonite practically jumped into the air, spread its wings and zipped back south towards Mahogany Town like a bullet, soon fading from view. Kris was just left wondering.

"Thanks for the help, Honchkrow," Kris told the bird Pokémon, who chirped gratefully. "I need you to do one more thing for me – just fly me back to Mahogany Town if you can, and then you can rest."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Mahogany Town, Johto** _

As soon as she had landed and recalled Honchkrow, Kris checked her PokéGear's radio. It seemed to work fine as Kris adjusted the tuner, the different channels all broadcasting as normal. There was Professor Oak's Pokémon Talk (an old recording, Kris noticed), Pokémon Music (another repetitive pop song), some cheesy audio drama which Kris had forgotten to listen for a while (she wondered if the young Pokéathlete Maximo had finally reciprocated the class representative's affections) and news about a Red Gyarados sighting at the Lake of Rage, which made Kris smile.

But after some adjusting, Kris finally found an oddity: a high-pitched, repetitive tune that played over and over, some bass chords playing between them on occasion. The tune was very rhythmical, always lasting five seconds, then followed by a two-second bass note, followed again by the high-pitched tune. After just half a minute, Kris had grown sick of the tune. Were the Pokémon in the lake forced to listen to _this_ over and over?

Walking around Mahogany Town with the radio close to her ear, she discovered the signal got weaker as she turned her radio towards south. She then walked north, the tune getting louder and less fuzzy, especially when Kris pointed the radio towards a large tree next to what appeared to be a souvenir shop... a tree with metal bits sticking out of it.

"Huh," Kris said.

Kris walked over to the souvenir shop, reading the signpost next to it that didn't exactly help her suspicions:

" _ **Just A Souvenir Shop.**_

_Nothing suspicious about it._

_No need to be alarmed."  
_

Kris frowned at the sign, then turned to look at the shop itself. It was smaller than the Poké Marts in Johto and, as stupid as it sounded, there indeed didn't seem to be anything suspicious about it – except for the fake tree, which Kris noted as she walked closer to touch it, was made of plastic. The question was, how the hell did something like this not get noticed?

Kris bit her lip as she stood near the door, thinking about Lance's warning. How dangerous could it be, though? Just some creep who ran a souvenir shop got bored and decided to have some amateur radio fun. All Kris probably had to do was ask politely, and failing that, let Croc have some fun with them until they stopped.

Taking a deep breath, Kris turned the handle on the door and stepped inside.

Except it turned out there was no need for any words, threatening or otherwise. The souvenir shop had been thoroughly trashed, with most of the shelves destroyed and merchandise spilled all over the floor. A large bookshelf at the back of the store remained intact, curiously enough – and close to it, a hatch had been opened, revealing a staircase leading to the shop's basement.

 _So Lance found this place as well_.

"N-no!" a voice whimpered weakly. "Don't pull the secret... damn it!"

Kris noticed a man with a large bruise on his head get up from behind the counter. Kris glared at him and tried to be as intimidating as she could – which was just met with her being ignored. The shady man just walked over to the hatch and started lamenting out loud:

"That caped son of a-" the man whined. "They're gonna kill me for this!"

"Excuse me," Kris said. "I have a few questions-"

"INTRUDER!" the man screamed as he finally noticed Kris. "I have to defend the hideout with my life!"

A look of manic desperation in his eye, the man grabbed a sledgehammer from behind his counter and charged at Kris – who just stepped aside as the man approached her and swung the heavy hammer, hitting one of the shelves still standing, only to have it crash on top of him and be knocked unconscious. Kris just stared.

"...what just happened?" she muttered.

Shrugging, Kris walked over to the hatch and peeked down the stairs – there was definitely light coming from there, so at least she wouldn't be ambushed. Still, she was not going in there alone, so she opened Croc's Poké Ball.

Upon coming out, the Croconaw immediately snapped its jaws and assumed a fighting stance, only to be disappointed by the lack of targets.

"Don't worry, Croc," Kris told the Pokémon. "You'll have something to chow down on soon enough."

Kris and Croc descended the stairs and stepped into the basement. Kris gasped.

The basement was tons bigger than the souvenir store above it – it was like an underground complex that encompassed the entire Mahogany Town. Kris was now facing a long corridor that she could barely see the end of, the corridor turning left at the end, though there was also a door at the left wall near the middle. There were two Persian statues made of white marble on the right wall, one very close to her current location.

The Kimono Girls had mentioned that Mahogany Town had been the home of ninjas once. Kris didn't particularly look forward to being ambushed by one, so she started to slowly tiptoe towards the end of the corridor.

But as she reached closer to the first Persian statue, she was suddenly pulled behind the statue, a large hand clasped on her mouth to muffle her surprised scream. Croc noticed this, but couldn't attack the assailant, who emerged from behind the statue, holding Kris in front of her. Kris didn't move or make a sound, just tried to signal Croc with her eyes to attack regardless of her, but Croc didn't budge, though it did growl at the attacker.

"Calm down," the attacker said suddenly with a raspy yet somewhat familiar voice. "I'm going to let go of you now, but _only_ if you keep that Croconaw of yours in check. Deal?"

The man was still holding Kris, but allowed her to speak.

"Stay still, Croc," Kris told the Pokémon.

"Good... okay, here we go..."

Kris felt the man loosening his grip. The moment that happened, Kris elbowed the man in the stomach and ran behind Croc, frantically yelling at it to attack. Croc pounced on the man, whom Kris noticed was very tall and wore a domino mask and a familiar black uniform, who screamed in terror as the Croconaw attacked him.

"You!" Kris yelled at the man, ignoring how Croc was biting and scratching him everywhere. "Bomb!"

"Missile!" the man screeched, trying to punch, kick and flail on the floor, attempting to shake Croc off him. "I told you I would let you go! And I just saved your ass anyway! _Get this thing off me_."

"I dunno," Kris muttered slowly and crossed her arms. "You did try to kill me that one time."

"That was years ago!" Missile wailed as he wrestled with Croc. "Oww! My ensemble!"

"That was like a little over a week ago," Kris corrected. "But, then again, you did help me out at the Slowpoke Well... okay, Croc, stop mauling him – for now."

Croc jumped off Missile, spitting a piece of fabric away as he did so. Missile took a moment to recover, getting up from the floor, dusting himself off and inspected the damage his clothing took.

"You know how hard it is to find these things in my size?" Missile complained. "It's a gargantuan effort!"

"Shut up and tell me what you want!"

"...which one should I do first?" Missile asked.

"...Croc," Kris said. "Do you want to eat him?"

"Okay, okay!" Missile said, hands raised. "This place is Team Rocket's HQ and has been that for decades. After Giovanni was defeated, most of the Rockets in Johto who avoided arrest hid themselves here. There's enough food and other supplies to last years!"

"Of course it is," Kris grumbled. "Why are you telling me this?"

Missile started stroking his mustache and pacing around, though he backed down just as he was about to walk past the statue, clearly relishing in the fact that he knew more than Kris did.

"These fools have removed me from their organization!" he announced. "But they'll learn the full extent of my wrath soon enough! I want you to make sure whatever they're planning fails. I _was_ going to go undercover and support you in disguise, but..."

Missile gestured his shredded clothes. Kris just shrugged.

"These statues have motion sensors and surveillance cameras hidden in them," Missile said, pointing at the marble Persian. "If someone walks by, the grunts in the security room are alerted. If they see that it's an intruder, they'll send Pokémon from those hatches."

Missile gestured at certain spots in the wall near the ceiling. On closer observation, Kris could faintly see the outlines of hidden hatches, mostly thanks to dust gathered between the cracks.

"Did you see Lance come through here?" Kris asked Missile suspiciously. "You know, _the_ Lance?"

"Yes, but I have no idea how he got past the sensors," Missile said. "Such a dashing sight, though – he and his Dragonite strutting down the corridor, face set with grim determination, like a man who fears nothing! Of course, he can blow this place apart if he wants, but he'll _never_ stop these guys without the two passwords to the leader's room. I happen to know the other one – it's 'Slowpoketail'."

"If you were kicked out, how do you know?" Kris pressed.

Missile scoffed. "They were the same even before Giovanni's fall. The people who run this base are _hopelessly_ inept. Something tells me the password to these computers is still 'Giovannirulzlolxd666'."

Kris nodded. "I'd thank you, but I don't trust you one bit and I kind of hate you."

"Understandable," Missile smiled and suddenly opened one of his Poké Balls.

Kris was ready to battle, but as Missile's Victreebel popped out, Missile simply smirked and stepped and casually stepped in front of the camera, blocking everything else from view with his body. As Missile had warned, two hatches opened near the ceiling and a Koffing and a Geodude came out – both Pokémon were wearing strange visors and focused entirely on Missile and his Victreebel .

Getting the hint, Kris nodded at Croc and sneaked past Missile, who ordered his Victreebel to fight the two. Instead of going past the second statue, Kris made her way through the door, ending up going through another corridor filled with desks and computers. Hearing footsteps increasing in volume, she dragged Croc with her under one of the desks, watching from silence as two Team Rocket Grunts ran to the corridor with the statues, about to battle Missile no doubt.

As Kris continued sneaking despite having no clue where she was going, just hoping to find a way to get the second password, Kris eventually found a workstation manned by a scientist. Kris and Croc took cover, but the scientist didn't notice anything and didn't have any Pokémon with him. Kris nodded at Croc, who grinned menacingly.

Running as fast as it could, Croc charged at the scientist, who seemed to reluctantly and slowly take his eyes off the monitor, only to be headbutted by Croc. The scientist fell off his chair, and once Kris made sure he was incapacitated, she dashed to the computer – only to grimace and look away when she saw what was on the monitor.

"Aww, no!" she groaned. "Did I just knock a guy out when he was in the middle of a... oh, eww, shouldn't you be working? !" Kris berated the dazed scientist. "Eugh."

Closing the browser, Kris made a frantic search for a way to switch off the Persian statues, which was easy enough, as there was literally a desktop shortcut to its controls. However, root password was required, and the now-unconscious scientist couldn't answer.

"I am going to be so disappointed if this works," Kris muttered and typed in 'Giovannirulzlolxd666'.

" _Access granted_."

"Huh."

With a click of the mouse, Kris managed to turn off the Persian statues, and with the coast clear, she and Croc breezed past several of them before finally finding a staircase to the lower floor.

Level B2 was even larger in terms of height, and the first thing Kris saw there was Lance spraying a wound in his Dragonite's leg with a Potion. Unconscious Pokémon, mainly Raticate, were scattered all over the place, and four unconscious Rocket Grunts had been tied together with rope and left in the corner. Kris tried to carefully approach him, but Lance was almost immediately alerted to her presence.

"Kris," he grunted and glared at her – Kris just waved at him nervously. "I thought I specifically told you not to follow me."

"I didn't!" Kris countered. "I mean, I sorta did want to help you with this, but I found out about the transmission coming from the store all on my own, I swear! Please let me help you! I made it this far!"

"Of course you did, I took care of most of the Rockets on my way here," Lance said and returned the wounded Dragonite. "Unfortunately, the battle with the red Gyarados left Dragonite weakened and one of them managed to exploit that."

"Oh, well that doesn't that mean..." Kris suggested carefully, hands behind her back as she tried to look innocent, "...that you'll be needing help from me?"

"No," Lance just said. "Even with the wounded Dragonite and the paralyzed red Gyarados, I have four other powerful dragon-types with me. However, since you've made it this far, I suppose forcing you to turn back would just get you killed or something – so all right, you can help."

Kris frowned at the callous way Lance spoke, but didn't complain. "R-right," she said. "How?"

"Apparently, you can shut down the transmitter from the office of their leader," Lance explained. "To get into that room, you need two passwords. I politely asked one of the Rocket Grunts until he told me that the other one is 'Raticate Tail', but I'm afraid the other-"

"Is 'Slowpoketail'!" Kris interjected quickly. "So, uh, no need to, um, ask politely anymore – even these guys don't deserve that."

Lance narrowed his eyes. "How do you know that?"

"I, uh, asked around too. Yup, I'm not afraid of these guys!"

"Very well then," Lance said. "Then all we have to do is find the leader's office. This corridor splits to the left and to the right. I'll go to the right. Don't do anything stupid – stay out of sight and fight only if you have to."

**~o~O~o~**

Meanwhile, further down in the hideout, four of Neo Team Rocket's current executives were negotiating. A Chatot stood on top of a drawer and observed the others quietly. Archer, the tall, teal-haired man in a white suit received a package from a badly bruised Petrel.

"About time," Archer said dismissively as he took the package. "Wow, you certainly look crap today. Normally I say you do your hair and comb your goatee for hours."

"I'm fine, thanks," Petrel grunted as he rubbed his face. "Just can't wait to get my hands on that little runt and that bald bastard..."

"Oh, right, because third time's the charm," mocked Dr. Gideon, who was sitting in a corner and typing furiously to his laptop. "Come on, Petrel, face it, you're really not just cut out for this Executive business. Maybe we should promote Proton instead."

"Where is he, anyway, Ariana?" Archer asked the red-haired woman in a matching white suit who sat behind the desk casually filing her nails with her feet planted on the table.

"Getting our troops to Goldenrod, if he's smart enough to obey my orders," Ariana replied nonchalantly.

A muffled explosion boomed in the floor above them, but Petrel was the only one to react. Archer started checking his reflection from a full-length mirror on the wall.

"Lance seems to be doing a number on our grunts," he commented casually. "It's a good thing we didn't have to face _him_ three years ago."

" _Brawk!_ " the Chatot spoke." _In Johto, first you get the money, then you get the power_ -"

"Shut up, Psiren!" Archer snapped at it.

Ariana laughed from behind her desk. "You would have crapped your pants if the Elite Four had just threatened to do so – and still, all it took to bring you down was some practically mute kid from the sticks."

"Hey!" Archer protested. "I didn't see you fighting him with us back at Silph!"

"Yeah, pity that, but things kept me busy at the Sevii Islands," Ariana mused and inspected her nails before standing up – the moment she did so, Archer stopped protesting and turned to face he mirror again. "Well, Lance can manhandle our troops all he wants, it's already too late for him. But that means it might be too late for us, too – I don't know if he's representing the Elite Four, the Legendary Pokémon Society or the police, but none of those them are things I want to see when this goes though. In case this goes south, we need waterproof alibis. Petrel?"

"It was Archer," Petrel said.

"Gideon?"

"It was Archer," Gideon said automatically without taking his eyes off the computer.

"Archer?"

Archer stared at Ariana blankly for a second. "Uh... it was me?"

"Excellent," Ariana said.

"But Ms. Ariana, what about you?" Petrel asked.

"I'm the one who calls the police," Ariana said.

" _Brawk! Archer did it, Archer did it!_ "

"I swear, I will snap that bird's neck," Archer growled.

"Better be careful, you might not be able to handle it," Ariana laughed. "Now, I think it's time to move out. Petrel, take some grunts and move the equipment to the trucks! Gideon, is the program ready?"

"Yup, I was just playing League of Legends 'till you guys finished, it's done," Gideon said and stood up. "I just have to wipe all data from the upstairs hard drive."

"You really should have done that beforehand," Ariana sighed. "I'll make sure we won't leave any evidence behind. Archer, you stay here and make us something to eat for the road, because I could eat all of you just now. Let's get to it!"

Ariana, Petrel and Dr. Gideon left to their destinations while Archer stayed in the room, silently grumbling in protest as the Chatot squawked insults at him.

**~o~O~o~**

Even though she didn't face any more Rockets, Kris still made her way forward as slowly and quietly as possible, having to remind herself every step of the way that Lance wouldn't be able to get to her in time. As she turned around a corner, she finally reached the staircase to B3, but also noticed an open door next to it. The door led to an office with the lights one, quiet humming being heard as someone walked around the office. Kris peeked in, seeing a short, dark-haired male scientist with a hunched posture and thick glasses grabbing documents and disks and tossing them into his bag, humming all the while:

" _Kimi no te de, kirisaite_ ~ _"_

"Hold it!" Kris yelled as she and Croc stormed into the room. "Hey... I know you!"

The scientist's eyes widened briefly and he stopped what he was doing, but soon just smirked casually, arms crossed.

"Of course you do," Gideon said smugly. "Quite a surprise, isn't it? To see that mild-mannered Doctor Gideon, is actually the fearsome lead scientist of Neo Team Rocket... _Doctor Gideon_!"

"Eh, not really," Kris said with a shrug. "Also, I think you need a more creative villain name."

"Hah, only someone who didn't get the genius of our plan would say so!" Gideon said dramatically. "I bet you'd like to know about the transmission, wouldn't you? But I will ne-"

"Never tell, yeah, got it," Kris sighed. "Croc, would you mind?"

Croc snapped its jaws and lunged at Dr. Gideon, chomping down on his arm and smiling inanely as Gideon screamed in pain. Kris noticed that Croc hadn't even bitten deep nor had it used all its strength, which Kris was grateful for – clearly all the training had worked, as Gideon's arm was still attached to his body.

"Okay, I'll talk!" Gideon wailed.

Kris signaled Croc to let go, but while Croc let go of Gideon's arm, it still stood next to him, claws extended and all teeth exposed.

"This is Team Rocket's finest?" Kris lamented. "You guys don't even."

"We do _so_ even!" Gideon protested. "And we're _Neo_ Team Rocket now! We're flying under the flag of our glorious new leader, and nothing will stop-"

"Croc."

"Right, right, the plan, sorry!" Gideon said and flinched as Croc growled at him. "We, and by we I mean _I_ managed to find a way to direct and transmit special radio waves in extremely high frequencies that can, when adjusted correctly, drive Pokémon insane, force them to evolve, and, under the right conditions... control their behavior."

Kris groaned. "So _you're_ why a frickin' red Gyarados almost ate me earlier today!"

Gideon smirked. "Scary, wasn't it?" he whispered. "Now, imagine a tiny lake or a river full of docile Magikarp suddenly turned into dozens, maybe even hundreds of Gyarados – all under _our_ control, of course."

"Well _that_ sure failed, didn't it?" Kris countered. "Lance and I smashed through you paper tigers and the next thing we'll do is blow your transmitter to kingdom come!"

"Yeah, indeed, totally sucks," Gideon said casually, still smirking. "Well, I'm a man of principles, so I won't even call for backup. The leader's office is just down the stairs. Go on. You've won. I'm gonna leave peacefully."

"I should have you arrested," Kris said.

"Good luck trying to use your phone in here," Gideon remarked. "Before you manage to get a hold of them, I'll be long gone. Besides, it's over anyway. It's not like you have what it takes to bring me down yourself."

Kris sighed. "No, I guess not. Croc, Headbutt!"

Croc used its head to tackle Gideon right in the stomach. As Gideon collapsed on his knees, wheezing and hacking, Kris turned around to leave.

But the moment Kris' back was turned, Gideon reached for his Poké Ball.

Kris flinched as she heard a female voice suddenly cry out: " _Duck_!"

Kris didn't question the voice, but ducked down and even pulled Croc as low as she could with her. Kris briefly saw a young woman in black combat gear leap through the doorway and towards Gideon, knocking him out with a swift kick before he could send out a Pokémon.

Getting up from the floor, Kris watched the sudden arrival. She was small, around her size, and only a few years older as well, with purple hair. Along with her black outfit, she also wore a red cape, though it was much shorter than the one Eusine, Lance and Wallace packed. She was also barefoot for some reason.

"The Poisonous Ninja master Janine, at your service," the new arrival said with a bow. "I am the current leader of the Fuchsia City Gym in Kanto."

"Uh, thanks, nice to meet you, I'm Kris," Kris said awkwardly, unsure on how to take this event. "Why are you here again? Shouldn't you be out at the gym? And wouldn't a ninja feel kinship with the likes of Team Rocket?"

"Not me, and certainly not my clan," Janine said. "We may be feared, but we would never let people like Team Rocket desecrate our old hideout like this. I heard about this place from Lance and decided to covertly help him investigate."

"Thanks for saving me, I guess," Kris muttered.

"It's more useful to us that you're alive," Janine said. "What have you managed to find out?"

"That guy designed a device that can manipulate Pokémon using sound waves blasted at special frequencies," Kris said, pointing at Gideon. "And I know the passwords to their leader's office. I'm going to go and shut these guys down and give the leader a good old smackdown if they happen to be there. After that we should have no more problems with these people."

Janine nodded. "Good, proceed," she said. "I'm going to go and find more leads."

Jumping with incredible agility, Janine slipped into the shadows. Feeling even more confident now that a gym leader was backing her, Kris descended to level B3.

The only thing of note on that level was the leader's office, though Kris figured that a ninja base would have secret passages, trap doors and such. As Kris had suspected, there was a security panel next to the door, prompting to input two passwords. Kris typed in both 'Slowpoketail' and 'Raticate Tail', and the door opened with a satisfying click.

Kris and Croc peeked inside, noticing just one person in the room standing in front of a mirror that fortunately didn't face Kris. Kris and Croc sneaked into the room, Kris firmly believing she'd just roughen up whoever the 'leader' was and have them surrender – she could already see her picture along with Lance and Janine in every newspaper there was. What satisfied her even more was imagining Lyra's expression when she read them.

But before Kris could signal Croc, the man mirroring himself turned to face her at the same time the door closed on its own, closing with another click. The mysterious man wore a black trench coat and a hat, but Kris gasped when she recognized the gaunt visage and tall, muscular build of the man who almost single-handedly killed her and Blaine not too many days ago.

"Y-you're..." Kris stuttered and started to slowly back away, all confidence sapping away from her. "No... you can't be..."

The man smiled.

"Oh, but I am," he announced in a deep voice. "After three years of absence, I, Giovanni, have returned to-"

"Wait a minute," Kris said suddenly, no longer afraid. "Giovanni doesn't sound like that!"

"...what?"

"Croc, Slash!" Kris ordered.

Croconaw lunged at the man and sliced the man's coat, causing him to stumble and drop his hat, revealing his hair to be teal instead of black. Furthermore, as the remnants of the man's coat dropped, Kris noticed excessive padding – the man was actually very skinny, and his suit underneath the coat was white.

"Aww, dang it!" the man lamented, observing the remnants of his coat. "Do you know how many hoops Petrel had to jump through to get this outfit for me?"

"This is the new leader?" Kris wondered. "Someone who poses in front of a mirror, pretending he's Giovanni?"

"Ariana and I share that responsibility together," the man said snootily. "I am Archer, and I shall demonstrate what I do with trespassers. Houndoom, go!"

Archer sent out Houndoom, a black, canine Pokémon with large, sharp horns and a long, skinny tail with a triangular tip. Out of the Poké Ball, the Houndoom let out a long, loud howl.

"Houndoom, burn her!"

"Croc, Water Gun!"

Croconaw's Water Gun easily extinguished Archer's attack and struck Houndoom, knocking the hellhound off its feet and into the wall, defeated with a single attack. Mouth gaping in shock, Archer recalled the Pokémon just before Croc pounced on him and was about to sink its teeth on his neck.

"No, please!" Archer cried. "It wasn't meant to be this way!"

Kris sighed even louder. "Croc, hold it for a moment – but stay on top of him."

She glanced at the Chatot sitting on a drawer, but throughout the fight, it hadn't done anything to help Archer, so Kris believed it was safe to turn her back on it and crouch next to Archer.

"I know all about your plan with the radio waves and the Lake of Rage, so don't try to hold anything back," Kris threatened. "I just need _you_ to tell me why you came back, and who's this Ariana? And _why_ do I see so many freaks parading around as executives?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Archer sighed as he lay on the floor helplessly. "I'd prefer to keep my throat. After Giovanni left, most of Team Rocket in Kanto and Johto were arrested. Two small contingents survived – the other one hid in this hideout, the other one, me included, were at the Sevii Islands carrying out our task. We didn't even know that Giovanni had been defeated until that annoying kid Red and his friends came after us there."

"Who?" Kris asked.

"I can't remember," Archer groaned. "That spiky-haired douche who was the champion for like ten minutes before Red beat him, that wannabe researcher chick and some short guy with a straw hat. We got our asses kicked by four teens – that's about as low as it gets."

"Go on," Kris threatened.

"Well, for two years, it was pretty quiet," Archer said. "We went out separate ways and hid, trying to find lord Giovanni again. And then _he_ found us."

"Who did?"

"Our new master," Archer said, frowning. "The one who warned us you were coming. I thought you said you knew everything."

"Um... yeah, everything except _that_ ," Kris said. "Yeah, all those other Rockets I beat up were _really_ helpful. But they neglected to mention a master."

"The one who told us that some weakling who got lucky with Proton and Petrel back at the Slowpoke Well was in Mahogany Town today! The..." Archer gulped. "Mask of Ice."

Kris was the one frowning now.

"That crazy S.O.B. is your leader?" Kris wondered. "Crap... I bet he didn't give you much of a chance when it came to joining."

"You could say that," Archer grumbled. "He gathered Ariana, Petrel, Proton, Dr. Gideon, Black Tulip and myself in the same room and gave us a chance to serve under him and reunite Team Rocket... or die. He told us we could do whatever we wanted with his resources, even get our _real_ master back, as long as we did whatever he said. First we had Gideon infiltrate this secret research facility as an employee – he used to work for Silph before helping us attack them, and managed to escape the incident with his reputation in check, so that was easy. Months later, he used their teleport to get a couple of dozen of our grunts there, Black Tulip leading them. Apparently it went pretty badly, since only Tulip, Gideon and a few grunts made it back. I would have never agreed to that, but the Mask handled that operation."

"Meanwhile, you set up camp here," Kris said.

"We were to continue our normal operations, gather money and plan for our big break," Archer said. "The Mask had us raid the Pewter Museum so we could get our hands on feathers left by this legendary bird, while another group at the Whirl Islands got more feathers. I don't know the details of that project either – that was mostly by the Mask and Gideon."

"What are you after, anyway?" Kris wondered.

"Ariana thinks _she's_ the new Giovanni now," Archer scoffed. "Petrel just follows whoever's in charge for brownie points – he was just a grunt before Ariana promoted him. Proton works for us because he's a prick. And Gideon is the craziest of them all – I'm afraid what will happen if he really makes it work."

"Well then you don't have to worry for long," Kris remarked. "What did _you_ want?"

"I just want Giovanni to return," Archer said, suddenly smiling with a mad glint in his eye. "Under his leadership, our organization became the menace it is remembered as. I would do anything for him."

"Rrriiight... well, just tell me how to stop Gideon's transmitter."

"You can't do it from here anymore. Even if you cut the power, it has its own generator one level above us. And you need a password to get to the generator room. The password is 'Hail Giovanni'..."

"Of course it is," Kris muttered.

"...but it's no use to you," Archer finished with a chuckle. "The password needs to be spoken with either my voice or Ariana's, nothing else will work. And anyway, no matter how hard you try, you won't stop our plan in Goldenrod!"

"...what plan?" Kris asked without thinking.

"What the... you mean you don't know that either?" Archer wondered and laughed even harder. "Forget it, then! Ariana would kill me if I said anything!"

"Fine, then you're coming with me to open the door to the generator room!"

"The hell I am!" Archer said. "I know you don't have what it takes to kill me, or even hurt me... and even if you did, it won't get you closer to opening the-"

"Hail Giovanni!"

Kris, Archer and even Croc slowly turned to look at where the voice came from. It sounded like Archer, but it seemed to come from the Chatot on the drawer. Staring at them curiously, the Chatot opened its mouth again:

"Hail Giovanni!"

"Psiren, you idiot!" Archer yelled. "I'm going to deep-fry you with a smile on my face!"

Kris smirked at Archer, stood up and extended her arm. The Chatot flew away from the drawer and landed on Kris' arm, and with that, Kris and Croc left the office, leaving Archer griping about his situation on the floor.

As Kris and Croc walked up to level B2 again, there was a sudden few seconds of complete darkness as every lamp in the hideout was turned off. But then what was apparently the backup generator kicked in, though instead of the lamps in the ceiling, the place was only mostly illuminated by smaller lights in the walls, casting the place in pale, blue light.

"Hello, Kris."

Kris almost screamed, but caught herself when she saw the person who said it. Janine had sneaked behind her, accompanied by a large, purple, flying bug-type with bulbous round eyes.

"Oh, hi Janine," Kris panted. "Is that a Venomoth?"

"Yes, it was a gift from my father," Janine explained flatly. "Did you find the info we need?"

"This thing can open the door for us," Kris said, holding up her arm.

"I am not a thing!" the Chatot squawked. "My name is Psiren!"

"Sorry," Kris told the Pokémon. "But you are apparently eager to screw over Archer."

"Archer did it!" Psiren screeched.

"Good. Want to join me?" Kris asked Janine.

Janine nodded, and together, the two plus Croc walked through the maze-like hallways of the hideout until finally coming across the generator room, fortunately marked with a label. Psiren the Chatot flew off Kris' arm and towards a voice sensor on the wall. As the Chatot squawked 'Hail Giovanni' into the sensor. The door into the generator room slid open and the Chatot flew away, Kris making no gesture to stop it.

But as the doors opened, Kris found herself staring at Archer and a tall, stylish red-haired woman in a white suit, along with their Pokémon, a Weezing and a Vileplume, respectively.

"Ariana! That's her!" Archer wailed at the woman, pointing at Kris.

"Ah, the one who caused our glorious new leader such distress," Ariana said calmly. "I was expecting someone more intimidating."

"Bring it on," she told the two, not caring that they were almost a foot taller than her. "Janine, back me up. I guess we'll have to fight these two to get to the generator."

Janine folded her arms and nodded at her Venomoth. "Stun Spore," she said.

But instead of directing the attack at Ariana and Archer's Pokémon, Venomoth launched a cloud of orange powder directly at Kris, whose body suddenly became stiff from the neck down. She fell down, distracting Croc for a second.

"Giga Drain!" Ariana ordered her Vileplume.

A green beam of energy appeared from the middle of Vileplume's flower, wrapping around Croc and snapping the Croconaw of its energy, leaving it unconscious on the floor.

"These two managed to beat you?" Ariana asked Archer. "For Arceus' sake, we could have left the grunt who says 'hyuck' all the time and he would have gotten more results."

"Words hurt, you know," Archer muttered.

"Thanks for the help, by the way," Ariana told Janine.

"Anything to honor my father's legacy," Janine said and bowed. "I did have to kick Dr. Gideon in the face to keep up the ruse."

"Eh, he needs one every now and then anyway," Ariana shrugged and looked down at Kris, who was struggling in vain to move her arms and legs. "You see this, little girl?" she mocked. "This is why you shouldn't be too trusting. You _do_ realize Team Rocket has employed the remnants of the Kōga clan as mercenaries even before Giovanni's time? We promised her this base in return for her help. Everything set in Goldenrod?"

"Yes, Ms. Ariana," Janine said. "I have fulfilled my contract."

"Excellent," Ariana praised. "Just get the GS Ball from the girl and then dispose of her – in whichever order you wish. The Mask of Ice needs what's his."

Kris' heart pounded almost painfully fast and her breath seized up as she saw Janine crouch over her, holding a syringe filled with purple liquid in her hand.

"Apologies," Janine said flatly, "but this is just business. Don't worry, the effect is very quick. It'll be like falling asleep."

 _No_ , Kris thought as Janine grabbed her head and brought the syringe closer. _Something will save me like always. Lance and that Missile guy both know I'm here. I can't go like this. I don't want to-_

And then Kris felt a slight snip on her neck as Janine employed the syringe. Soon enough, her vision went blurry and Ariana's voice became low and distant in her ears.

"Well done," Ariana spoke. "Now, look through her bag for a Poké Ball with a golden top half and a silver bottom. Oh, and feel free to keep anything nice you might find. She won't be needing them where she's going."

"Dragonbreath!"

As Ariana, Archer and Janine reacted to the sudden male voice, a blast of multicolored flame flew above Kris' body, almost hitting the Rockets, Vileplume and Weezing, who were all forced to leap out of the way. Soon enough, a large gray Pokémon with serrated wings, vicious fangs and sharp talons flew towards them.

"Now, Aerodactyl, Rock Slide!" the same voice commanded the gray Pokémon, who screeched and somehow summoned a barrage of rocks that bombarded the place, somehow managing to hit mostly Venomoth, Vileplume and Weezing with amazing accuracy.

As the Rockets scattered away, the Aerodactyl's owner walked over to Kris' body, looking at it blankly.

"Hello again, Lance," Ariana said after making sure the rock barrage had stopped. "Looks like your timing has gotten worse over the years – had you come just a minute or two earlier, you could have potentially saved her. Tch, tch. Janine!" Ariana yelled. "Plans have changed! If you want to get your reward, help us get rid of this guy! There's three of us and only one of him!"

"Yes, ma'am," Janine said. "Venomoth, Signal Beam!"

"Vileplume, Energy Ball!"

"Weezing, Sludge Bomb!"

Lance's Aerodactyl soared over the attackers and dodged the attacks with ease and responded with another Dragonbreath, once again scattering its enemies away from each other. As Janine was about to order a counterattack, someone approached from behind her, lightly tapping her on the shoulder.

"I'm in the middle of something!" Janine snapped before turning around. "Just a wait a few seconds, you assh... f-father?"

Janine ignored her Venomoth being knocked out by a simple swipe of the Aerodactyl's talon as she stood face-to-face with an older man with dark, spiky hair. Though he looked exactly like the former gym leader Koga, he was wearing a tattered Team Rocket uniform instead of his usual getup.

"Father," Janine gasped. "Does this mean that you have finally come to see me? To witness that I'm just as good as you? To finally sit down and talk with me?"

"No," the man replied.

"Wait a minute," Janine said. "You don't sound like-"

The man then knocked Janine out cold with a sudden punch in the face. With that, his face suddenly turned pink and jelly-like before morphing into a Ditto, which the man took off his face, revealing instead a man with a thick black mustache wearing a domino mask.

"Damn, I love that trick!" Missile cheered. "Well – my job here is done."

And before Lance could notice what was on, Missile fled the HQ with his Ditto in tow.

As Lance battled Ariana and Archer, whose Pokémon couldn't land a single hit on his fast Aerodactyl, Kris suddenly opened his eyes. Something was wrong – for starters, she was alive. She could see and hear what was happening just fine, and as the feeling returned to her limbs, she realized the effects of the Stun Spore had worn off as well.

She sprung back on her feet just to witness a Crunch attack from Aerodactyl bringing Ariana's Vileplume down. Cursing, she returned it and instead sent out an Arbok. Archer's Weezing attacked with another Sludge Bomb which Aerodactyl dodged with ease.

"Lance!" Kris shouted, actually startling the cold Champion for once. "I'm all right! Let me help you!"

"Arbok, Glare!" Ariana ordered.

Ariana's Arbok managed to make eye contact with Lance's Aerodactyl. The Cobra Pokémon's eyes glowed red, making Aerodactyl glow red as well, stopping the flying-type and sending it crashing down in paralysis. Lance returned the Pokémon and gave Kris an almost equally menacing glare.

"Sorry," Kris said awkwardly. "But I can help you anyway! We can take these guys on together!"

"Fine," Lance said and sent out another Pokémon. "You take him, I'll take her."

Lance had sent out his Druddigon, a blue, muscular dragon-type with thin wings and enormous, sharp claws and tail. Kris returned the unconscious Croc and sent out Shrew instead.

"Arbok, Gunk Shot!" Ariana ordered.

"Weezing, uh... Sludge Bomb again!" Archer yelled.

Lance countered with a Dragon Claw, Druddigon managing to dodge the unwieldy projectile of garbage the Arbok shot at it and strike the Arbok down. Kris went with her patented Defense Curl and Rollout technique, ordering Shrew to use Defense Curl to absorb Weezing's attack, then strike at it with a Rollout. Already weakened earlier, Weezing went down early, as did Arbok after some meager struggling.

Ariana and Archer recalled their fainted Pokémon, but while Archer looked terrified, Ariana recovered quickly.

"I don't know how you recovered from that, little girl," she said smugly, "but it doesn't really matter now. See this Lance?" she said, pointing at the generator, which six Electrode wired into it were powering, all of them grimacing and sweating. "No matter how hard you'll try, our transmitter will keep on powering. I know you well enough, and you would _never_ stoop as low as to hurt an innocent Pokémon, so you might as well-"

"Hyper Beam," Lance ordered calmly.

Druddigon launched a destructive beam of energy at the transmitter. Ariana and Archer ran out of the way and fled the HQ as the beam destroyed the generator and cut of all the cords connected to the Electrode, freeing them within seconds. The generator blowing up one last time and sending sparks flying everywhere, Lance recalled his Druddigon before turning to face Kris, who had just noticed that Janine and her Venomoth had fled during the battle as well.

Seeing the expression on Lance's face, Kris grimaced as she anticipated a verbal smackdown. But instead, Lance just had this to say:

"Congratulations."

Kris stared. "Uwa-huh?"

"'Only a trainer with a keen sense of justice would disobey an order if it stopped the suffering of an innocent Pokémon'," Lance listed off as he was quoting from memory. "You have adhered to the virtue of justice and have passed another trial. Only one more and you'll be admitted into the Silver Conference."

"Y-you mean it... wow, I don't know what to-"

"However," Lance interrupted loudly and made Kris flinch, "a trainer should know their limits, especially in the face of a danger such as Team Rocket. You trusted too easily, let down your guard and allowed yourself to be almost killed."

"Hey, but I didn't die!" Kris protested. "Maybe Janine had the wrong syringe...?"

"We'll find out once I capture her," Lance said. "For assisting Team Rocket, she is now a wanted criminal. I suggest you return to Ecruteak like I suggested earlier. You could clearly use more training. Farewell, Kris."

With a swing of his cape, Lance stormed off, leaving Kris standing in the wrecked room that was formerly Team Rocket's sacred hideout and a lair of a clan of ninjas. Somehow, Lance's attitude had made Kris' accomplishments feel like nothing, and all she had in her mind were questions.

Still covered in Weezing sludge, Shrew shook itself clean and walked over to Kris. Seeing the little Sandshrew rub its head against Kris' leg improved her mood and even made her smile a little.

"Thanks," she told the Pokémon as she scratched it behind the ear.


	13. Battle at the Radio Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neo Team Rocket has taken over the Radio Tower and the whole of Goldenrod City, but for what purpose?

" _Wake up, meatbag – it is 7:30 AM_."

"Mmh... I thought I told you to set the alarm for frickin' nine, not seven-thirty..."

" _Apologies. It appears you attempting to MURDER this unit has caused a minor malfunction_."

**Chapter Thirteen: _Battle at the Radio Tower_**

Kris woke up in one of the small bedrooms in the Mahogany Town Pokémon Center. She had been in luck: with the red Gyarados and the 'mysterious souvenir shop' gone, there was nothing of interest for tourists in the quiet mountain town, so most of the crowds had left before Kris booked the room for the night. She intended to sleep late for once, but SkrillDex woke up her up rudely. It wasn't until Kris had slowly dragged herself from the confines of her warm bed that she realized something.

"Hey, you're working again!" she said, grabbing the PokéDex from her nightstand.

" _Username Kris' attempts to fool this unit twice has caused shame on it. Unit SkrillDex had taken her for a_ _n idiot_ _, but it appears username Kris is far more cunning than she let on, managing to disconnect this PokéDex's vital systems for each other. How did you do it, you filthy fleshsack?_ "

"Um... yeah, you think about that for a while!" Kris snapped and put SkrillDex back in her bag.

Getting out of her bed took even more monumental effort than usual, seeing as she had stayed up late wondering about things. How come Janine's injection hadn't killed her? What was Team Rocket up to now? And, of course, Kris spared some thoughts to why the strange Missile guy had helped her, but she figured he was just off his rocker.

After washing up, brushing her hair and putting her clothes on, Kris checked her map. She _was_ going to spend the remainder of last night training on the route to the east, but a strange man trying to get her to buy candy bars kept blocking her way, so Kris had headed to the Pokémon Center instead.

It was Saturday – that meant the Silver Conference was nine days away. She had to get to Ecruteak City soon to ask about her next trial. Lyra was no doubt on her way to Blackthorn by now, and while Clair was the strongest of them all, Lyra had gotten the other seven badges ridiculously fast.

Kris' thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her PokéGear, but all of her annoyance faded away when she realized who was calling her: Professor Elm. She answered the call as quickly as she could.

"Hi, prof," she said. "I thought you'd forgotten about me. Something up?"

" _Oh, Kris, um, thank goodness, I attempted to call you yesterday, but there was some kind of interference. I tried to isolate the problem, and I think I have figured out the cause-_ "

"Professor, the problem is gone now, and I know what caused it, it's cool. What did you call me about?"

" _Um, yes, sorry._ _I just... well, I turned on the radio as I woke up, but all I got from most channels was static. Only two channels were up: one made this weird, repetitive noise that gave me a headache, and the other talked something about... Team Rocket? My radio is really old and the transmission was kind of fuzzy, but... I dunno, I heard they were at the Slowpoke Well, so you better watch yourself._ "

Kris frowned. "Sure, I will," she said contemplatively. "Have you found any info on the Masked Man?"

" _The Mask of Ice_?" Elm said. " _Oh, well, um, yes, but there's still a lot of ground to cover. We need to talk when we meet again, though. Sorry, I have to go, there's a lot of work waiting._ "

After some more "um's" and "ah's", Elm hung up, leaving Kris puzzled. She turned on her PokéGear and tuned to the channel that aired Professor Oak's Pokémon Talk. It turned out to be true – all Kris got was static, and it was a 24/7 channel at that. The same occurred on every single channel until Kris was able to hear some talking. After a few seconds, the transmission cleared enough for Kris to hear what was said:

" _...amazing Team Rocket_. _We are about to ann... glorious return... our boss, Giovanni! Our lord, can you hear us? We await you, Giovanni! We have returned! This mes..."_

The rest was reduced to fuzzy static, but Kris got the gist of it. This had been their plan – to take over the Radio Tower and make a full return. And that repetitive signal Elm mentioned could be only one thing, and it wasn't the 24 hour dubstep channel. And since every other available channel was blocked, that meant it'd be a while before the authorities could get to the case.

Kris thought about her options. She didn't know the numbers of the LPS members, Lance having only sent her a Holo, and neither her PokéDex or her PokéGear were able to send one back. Of course, they had to put two and two together soon enough, right?

 _Unless... is_ this _the next test?_

She had taken on Neo Team Rocket before, three times, in fact. And, Kris remembered, every single time that happened, she had help from someone. Last time she almost died. And Lance had told Kris not to overestimate her abilities.

But then again, last time most of her team had been exhausted at the lake. Now, she had a fully healed team of powerful Pokémon... and Shrew.

She had to try. She had to at least do _something_. After all, virtues, justice and crap.

"Honchkrow, go! We'll fly to Goldenrod City!"

Kris let the big bird Pokémon out of its Poké Ball and let it fly in a circle above Kris before swooping down. Kris grabbed the Honchkrow's legs and was pulled in the air, hastily buttoning up her jacket with one hand, not being a fan of the breeze.

**~o~O~o~**

After a flight that took about an hour, Honchkrow landed on the outskirts of Goldenrod City, near the northern gate between the city and Route 35. The situation was worse than Kris thought: there were two trucks blocking every way around the gatehouse, which in turn was staffed by men in Team Rocket uniforms. It was as if they weren't even trying to hide the fact that they were taking over the entire city. But while Kris could see them overpowering the security, could they really match up against the police? Right under the nose of Looker, no less?

Either way, Kris was low on options. Flying over the gatehouse probably wouldn't do much good – even Team Rocket wasn't stupid enough not to take that into account, and Kris would have to land eventually, anyway. Sneaking through the gatehouse was impossible – but sneaking in the rest of the city was still doable. All Kris had to was prevent the grunts in the gatehouse from alerting any others.

"Honchkrow," Kris told the Pokémon, talking softly into its ear. "I need you to lay low while I go in. Here's what you gotta do..."

After Kris had made sure to tell Honchkrow her plan and make sure the bird understood it, she sent Honchkrow to hide away in the bushes as Kris herself did the only thing she could – she marched right into the gatehouse.

The three Rockets in the gatehouse saw her coming from afar, but didn't make any gestures to stop her. Kris was grateful that none of them had gotten a good look of her back at the HQ, so all Kris had to worry about were the executives. Smiling and pretending to take pictures with her PokéGear, Kris just walked past the grunts in the gatehouse until one of them grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Hey, where do ya think you're going?" the grunt asked her.

"Oh, pardon m' manners, Mr. security guard, sir," Kris said, putting on the best Orre accent she could come up with. "This is m' first time in the good ol' Johto region and I'm looking forward of seein' the fancy houses you get here in Goldenrod! Say, are the guards over here dressed differently than in those other cities, huh?"

"Oh, wow, seriously, that accent is all over the place," another grunt said, crossing his arms. "And besides, I have a cousin in Kalos, and that is kind of offensive."

Kris groaned. "Oh, fine, whatever, but see, that's a hobby of mine... walking in different cities, putting on different accents, trying to see whatever sticks. So, why are you guards dressed like that, is this some Johto Halloween that's in summer, or-"

"How dumb do you think we are?" the guard who had grabbed her asked, pushing her away. "I'll tell you what we told the others: we, Team Rocket, have taken over this entire city. Yes, it's just like three years ago, and we have returned! Only now, we won't let any suspicious kids wander around! We've hired dozens of people from Goldenrod to help us take over the Radio Tower and we could take on _anything_ you peons dish at us!"

"Eh, it was worth a shot," Kris said, and yelled: "HONCHKROW!"

The grunts stared in bafflement as Kris jumped and took cover behind the security counter. For a few seconds, Kris remained crouched but didn't hear a thing, wondering if Honchkrow had fallen asleep.

"Uh, what are you doing?" one of the grunts asked. "Is this a Kalos thing?"

"She's not from Kalos, you idiot!"

Finally, Honchkrow flew into the gatehouse, opened its beak and released a Haze attack on the three grunts, blinding them with thick black gas.

"Now, Whirlwind!" Kris yelled.

Honchkrow flapped its wings rapidly, whipping up a gust of wind powerful enough to toss all three Rockets away and into the wall – except that they weren't knocked out, and got back on their feet quickly enough, one of them pulling out a whip while another tossed a Poké Ball, sending out a Machoke.

_Well, this did not go as planned..._

"Honchkrow, Peck!"

"Machoke, Ice Punch!"

The Machoke easily overpowered the Honchkrow, its Ice Punch knocking the bird out. Kris barely had time to recall it as a Karate Chop from Machoke hit the counter she was hiding behind, making a large hole in it. Kris devised an alternate strategy on the spot and ran to the back room of the gatehouse, closing the door behind her and then moving forward to the first viable escape route she saw.

That happened to be stairs leading into a basement. Hearing the grunts and the Machoke close in on her, Kris ran down the stairs and closed the basement's door behind her, managing to lock it. Knowing a door wouldn't stop a Machoke for long, Kris looked for more places to hide in, spotting another door, a reinforced steel one at that.

Ignoring the pounding on the door behind her, Kris made a dash towards the door. Just as she heard the basement's door getting shattered, Kris closed the steel door behind her, finding herself in dark, dank tunnel.

"Chandelure, go!"

By letting out Chandelure, Kris could see in front of her face, though she still had no idea where she was. There were pipes and cables running around the wall, so Kris decided to follow those.

The more Kris walked and Chandelure floated behind her, the less dark it got. Eventually, after lots of walking and several turns, Kris made it to a yet another door. Pressing her ear against it, she heard lots of chatter from the other side. However, aside from adult men and women and miscellaneous Pokémon noises, Kris could clearly make up noises made by children.

Those horrible, eardrum-shattering noises.

Last Kris knew, Team Rocket didn't employ children, nor did they tend to have 'Bring Your Children To Work' -days, unless things had changed _that_ much after Giovanni's fall. So, making sure Chandelure was right beside her, she opened the door.

Kris found herself in another tunnel and was able to tell that she was still underground, but this one was wide, well-lit, warm, had good air-circulation, and most importantly, it was full of people. Just plain average civilian people, some huddled in groups, other walking on their own or with just their Pokémon. There were children crying and mothers trying to calm them and some people walking around in their pajamas. Kris didn't have to guess what everyone was talking about.

Some fortunate soul had brought a portable TV with them and a small crowd of people had gathered around the person to see the news. Finally turning her size to an advantage, Kris managed to sneak past everyone and get a good look at the TV.

" _...will stay with the situation as it develops. As far as we can understand, at some point during the night, trucks and vans full of Team Rocket grunts managed to make their way into Goldenrod City. With authorities focused on investigating the incident known as the 'Mask of Ice' crisis, there was insufficient manpower to inspect the cars, which weren't deemed suspicious in the slightest. During the night, the grunts managed to overpower security and wait for the Radio Tower staff to come to work before taking them hostage. Using this as leverage, they spread around Goldenrod City. Our reporter is near the scene now. Gabby?_ "

" _I am here at Route 34 with Detective Looker from the International Police. Good to see you again_."

" _Mutual emotions are not shared among us, I am afraid_."

" _...he says, or I believe he says, that Team Rocket has used subtle intimidation tactics and subliminal advertising against residents of Goldenrod City for weeks, having increased their numbers by recruiting more members. It is believed they continue to do this as we speak, which is how they are able to take the entire city hostage. Even gym leader Whitney was caught by surprise._ "

" _Allow myself to take over the telecommunique, please. Johtoans... Johtonites... people of the lush region of Johto! Communications emanating from the city of golden rods have been disrupted by causes unknown. People of innocence have been obtained as hostages. Leave the matter in the hands of the International Police. Make zero attempts to save the populace. We do not require an average civilian to be a hero – hero – a HERO!_ "

" _Thank you, Detective..._ "

"Hyuck-hyuck-hyuck," a voice suddenly rang out. "Better believe the man!"

Kris turned around to look, as did most people in the vicinity. A lone male Team Rocket Grunt accompanied by a Muk and a Raticate, unsurprisingly enough, had appeared into the tunnel. Even though there were just one of him, the civilians were backing from him in fear, allowing him to sneer at them.

"I was wondering why we hadn't encountered more stragglers," the grunt said and laughed in his distinctive 'hyuck-hyuck-hyuck' way. "How cute, hiding in here like Rattata awaiting for their doom. Don't be too alarmed, I'm not here to do anything to you cretins – you still have a chance to join the glory of Team Rocket at a later rate, if you want. I was informed of the arrival of a dark-haired girl, a Pokémon trainer, about five feet and two inches... ring a bell?"

No one from the crowd responded, the parents hugging their children while some civilians attempted to protect others by stepping in front of them. Kris tried to lay low and crawl away into safety, hoping the civilians would keep their attention at the grunt.

"Hyuck-hyuck-hyuck," he said. "Very well then, let me make it simple for you. I will ask again, and if no one answers me, my Pokémon will kill a single, randomly selected person here, after which I ask again, rinse and repeat. So, again: have you seen _hyuck_ -"

The grunt wheezed as someone emerged from the ceiling, holding onto the pipes and wrapping his legs around the grunt's throat. Immediately after, a Sneasel lunged from the ceiling and hit the Raticate with a Slash attack. When the Muk was distracted, Kris quickly got up and ordered Chandelure to use Shadow Ball, hitting Muk by surprise and knocking the Pokémon out quickly.

The mystery man tossed the now-unconscious grunt away and jumped off the ceiling. Kris instantly recognized the long red hair, frowning expression and black jacket and gloves. The civilians seemed too afraid and surprised to approach him, but this time, Kris wasn't.

"You!" Kris told Silver, approaching him with Chandelure in tow. "I thought you'd be out collecting badges and stuff."

"If anything, I'm more surprised as to why _you're_ here," Silver said coldly. "Let me guess, you were slacking out here instead of training and allowed these worthless Rockets to get the drop on you."

"Um... no," Kris said, unable to come up with a counter. "For your information, I'm here to fight them!"

Silver scoffed. "Your sense of humor has improved, Kris," he said as he swiped his hair off his face. "You couldn't even make one little move without alerting half of those idiots – and I doubt your Pokémon have even a fraction of the power needed to take these people on. Funny you should always show up when Team Rocket is concerned, by the way."

"So you _have_ been stalking me," Kris said and tried to manage to sound as sneering as Silver did. "I always knew you were a creep, but sheesh! Why are you so obsessed with fighting these guys anyway?"

Silver didn't answer for a while, instead looking away in disgust. The crowds of people were beginning to disperse, uninterested in Kris and Silver's conversation, leaving the two mostly alone.

After a brief silence, Silver responded: "I hate weaklings-"

"You need a thesaurus, you know."

"-and Team Rocket are the worst kinds of weaklings," Silver finished. "They act all big and tough in a group, but alone, they're weak. Just look at that guy," he added and pointed at the grunt whose windpipe Silver had almost crushed. "Beaten in under a minute, his Muk getting knocked out by a Pokémon trained by _you_ of all people."

"And yet, for all your bravado, you lost to Lyra at the Whirl Cup," Kris reminded. "And she only used _one_ of her Pokémon. Must sting, huh?"

"That was a week ago," Silver pointed out. "Unlike you, I haven't been slacking since then, but I have pushed my Pokémon to the limit, discarding all the worthless and weak things."

"Like that Tentacruel?" Kris asked.

She felt comfortable sassing Silver as long as she had Chandelure, whose Flamethrower would make short work of Sneasel, powerful or not – unless it was faster and used a dark-type attack. And it probably _was_ faster.

 _This wasn't a good idea_.

But Silver didn't show signs of attacking. He just crossed her arms and looked at the ground, as if just making eye contact with Kris was beneath him.

"After losing to your friend, I have beaten every single trainer I have challenged," he said. "Except one."

Kris raised her eyebrows. She knew Silver was more bark than bite, but what she didn't expect was him actually _admitting_ it – although just talking about it seemed to make him disgusted.

"That bastard in a cape," Silver grumbled. "He beat me fairly, I admit that – but to think he had the nerve to give me some sappy tirade about me treating my Pokémon wrong."

Silver clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes.

"He's exactly the kind of people I hate," he said. "There was no way he could have gotten that strong while practicing what he preached. A damn hypocrite, just like practically every single trainer I meet!"

"If you think everyone is beneath you," Kris said calmly, trying not say anything that might incite Silver, "why not just let Team Rocket have their way?"

Silver scoffed again, taking the first opportunity to insult Kris. "You wouldn't say that if you knew what they were up to! They're planning to-"

"Use the Radio Tower to broadcast a signal that's gonna brainwash and possibly forcibly evolve Pokémon all over Johto and maybe even Kanto," Kris listed off, "and they want Giovanni to hear their message as well. I've done my homework."

Silver stared at Kris, but was unimpressed. "Team Rocket are even worse scum than you are, and I'm not gonna let them win."

"Well, me neither!" Kris said firmly. "Look, I still have three strong Pokémon and Shrew with me that can still fight _and_ like it or not, I have experience with these situations. And you may like to brag how strong you are, or how weak everyone else is, anyway, but I might just surprise you."

Silver crossed his arms. "What are you suggesting?"

"We'll team up," Kris said. "Maybe I can't take them alone, but neither can you. And I want to stop them, too!"

Silver smirked. "Yeah, you want to be the big hero who the media won't shut up about, just like the legendary Red, yet you don't have even half of his power."

"Uhm... well... you're a jerk!" Kris countered.

"As are you, but at least I admit it."

"Hey, I can totally admit it!" Kris said. "Just... not now. But the point stands. Do we do this or not?"

Silver glanced at his Sneasel, then at Kris' Chandelure. His expression remained unchanged, but Kris was sure he was considering it. Finally, he sighed.

"Fine," he said grudgingly. "Every fiber of my being screams against this decision, but you might actually be of use. Just remember: if you're an idiot and get yourself captured, I'm _not_ springing to the rescue!"

"I didn't expect you to," Kris remarked. "Come on, Chandelure!"

Together, Kris, Silver and their Pokémon left the Goldenrod Tunnel, walking up the stairs and getting back to the surface.

Kris couldn't believe her eyes: the cobbled, sun-bathed streets of Goldenrod were entirely empty, with even the sound of a lone candy-wrapper being tossed around by the wind being clearly audible. The last time Kris had visited the city, she couldn't stretch her arms without hitting some busy salaryman or -woman.

Silver moved forward with expertise, leaving the entrance building to the tunnel and sneaking across the street and behind another house. Kris followed suit, unsure why the stealthy approach was necessary when no Team Rocket were around. Kris hid behind Silver, watching him peek around the corner of the house.

"If you don't mind," Kris whispered, "where are we going?"

"I have a plan that can get us into the Radio Tower," Silver muttered as he scoped the proper route. "There's a house nearby that Team Rocket took over and turned into a recruitment center."

"Okay, good, I'll just go after you then," Kris mumbled, wishing Silver would have actually _told_ her where the house was. "Jeez, I still can't believe these guys took control of an entire city."

"It's not the first time," Silver remarked.

Leaving the conversation at that, Silver quietly rushed forward and hid behind a bench. Kris followed closely behind, hoping Silver covered her entirely. Silver's Sneasel and Kris' Chandelure kept up, Sneasel moving with tremendous speed from one hideout to another while Chandelure floated in the shadows slightly away from the others.

"Return your Pokémon," Silver said coldly. "We might as well carry around a giant torch and a banner that says: 'come and kill us, Team Rocket'."

Kris couldn't come up with a witty retort, so she just recalled the Chandelure. Silver was clearly above such things, and Kris wanted to point out that Sneasel's dark coloration would stick out on such a bright, sunny morning.

But then again, Kris didn't want to get choked again – or punched, or kicked, or stabbed, or-

"I'm not recalling mine, because I can't go on with the plan without Sneasel," Silver said, as if he had read Kris' mind.

"If you say so," Kris said quietly. "You ever going to return that?"

"It hasn't made any complaints," Silver replied as he scoped out the next route.

"It?" Kris repeated with a scoff. "You haven't even bothered to learn your Pokémon's gender yet?"

Silver didn't actually reply to that one – Kris was at least expecting a harsh order to shut her mouth or something. Not wanting to kick him while he was down, Kris changed the subject:

"What were you saying about them having done this before?" she asked.

Silver glanced at her coldly. "How ignorant can you be? I'm talking about the Silph disaster three years ago."

"Yeah, I know what that is," Kris hissed. "But that time they didn't actually take over the _entire_ city. You'd think people here would be more prepared."

"They believe Red utterly destroyed Team Rocket three years ago," Silver muttered. "His legend has been utterly distorted over the years. If people knew the truth, they wouldn't be so blindly optimistic about the situation..."

"Hey, Red accomplished much more than you have," Kris argued. "Unlike you, he actually loved his Pokémon and he'd still kick your ass every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Just like Lance."

"You really are gullible," Silver snapped, forgetting to whisper as he turned around to glare at Kris, who flinched. "You really think either of them would have had time for that mushy crap when trying to get powerful? They're Pokémon League Champions! You don't get to become one unless you're ruthless and willing to push yourself and your Pokémon to their absolute limits, feelings be damned."

"Didn't you watch Red's inauguration ceremony?" Kris wondered.

"No, I have a life."

"Ha-ha. But in his speech, Professor Oak praised what an exemplary person Red was. How he treated his Pokémon well, and how he was kind even to his enemies."

Silver just shook his head condescendingly. "Poor, Kris. Have you really not realized that he said that to make the 'good people' of Kanto well-behaved, to make sure they stay in line, always turning the other cheek when the powers that be screw them over?"

"Yeah, I know those speeches are mostly BS," Kris said defensively, "but the point is, you don't become a powerful trainer with your methods."

"We'll have to test that some day, then," Silver remarked. "By the way, Kris, how many badges do you have?"

"Um... three."

"And I have six. Need I say more? Now shut up for once and stay here – the house is just over there!"

Kris wanted to argue some more, but Silver and Sneasel had already left. Kris stayed in the bushes behind the bench, indeed seeing a Team Rocket Grunt exit a nearby house, stretching his arms, yawning and scratching himself. He was completely ignorant of Silver and Sneasel sneaking into the house through a back window.

It took Silver exactly two minutes and forty-seven seconds to do his thing and leave the house without anyone noticing, carrying a soft package with him. Hiding in the shadows until the Rocket Grunt returned inside, Silver dashed back behind the bench where Kris was hiding and rudely shoved the package to Kris.

"Here," Silver said stoically. "Sneasel, return."

As Silver returned Sneasel to its Poké Ball, Kris opened the package. Her look of confusion changed to shock when she pulled out a neatly folded black shirt out of the package, soon following with a matching black skirt, boots, gloves and cap, the shirt emblazoned with a red 'R' symbol.

"The hell are you up to?!" Kris almost yelled. "There's no way this shirt is your size, although I admit that you could probably rock this skirt."

"They're for you," Silver deadpanned. "Before you give me any of your stupid crap, hear me out. The entrance at the Radio Tower inspects arrivals pretty rigorously, but there are remnants of the old Radio Tower still up within the new one. See, they remodeled the thing a few years back, but instead of demolishing the old one, they sort of just put new bits on it. We can get in all the way to the third floor from that, then you blend in with the other grunts. As long as they don't get a good look at your face, you'll be fine."

"Yeah, okay, well, here's my counterpoint," Kris flustered as she stared at the Team Rocket get-up. "Why don't _you_ do it?"

"They..." Silver sighed. "They've gotten a pretty good look at _my_ face already. Back in Mahogany Town, I found the hideout under the shop faster than you or the caped bastard. I got in, but they surrounded me and I escaped just barely, but not before having to encounter that woman in a white suit. And today, well, one of them saw me before I knocked him out, but he has probably recovered by now."

"I'm surprised," Kris said. "I'd have thought you'd have killed him. But still-"

"Which one of us is better at sneaking into places, me or you?" Silver said coldly. "I don't need disguises and I certainly don't have time to hold your hand as you screw around. Go and change already!"

"Are you some kind of pervert?!" Kris snapped. "I'm not gonna change when you're standing there!"

"I meant in the bushes," Silver growled, clenching his teeth, "and if you think there's anything to see anyway, then you're badly deluded."

"That's not what I meant," Kris said as she grabbed the uniform and headed to the bushes. "But I want some distance between us when you first see me in this uniform – an asshole like you would probably get off beating up a person in Team Rocket uniform or something."

_A few minutes later..._

Silver leaned against a tree with his hands in his pockets, grunting impatiently every once in a while until Kris finally came out of the bushes in full Team Rocket uniform, having stuffed her regular clothes into her bag, that was about to split open at any minute. She had tied her hair on a ponytail to look at least a little different than back at Mahogany Town, hoping the executives would have considered her too unimportant to worry about.

"Well, I do feel like punching you even harder right now," Silver muttered.

"You can try," Kris retorted, "but this uniform makes me feel kinda... evil. But in the good way. I mean, I'd have no problem ratting you out to Team Rocket and doing the rest myself now. But I guess I'll allow you to help me for a little while longer."

"Can we go now?"

"Sure," Kris shrugged, though she still took a moment to look at herself and admire the uniform. "You know, if I wasn't afraid of getting arrested, I'd totally wear this all the time. It's so frickin' comfortable! I don't know where these guys get their fabric. And it's pretty stylish, too – it's just the 'R' that's kinda tacky."

Even after Kris was disguised, the two deemed it to be safer for them to sneak their way to the Radio Tower. They made their way to the tower through alleys, backyards, parks and other shadowy places, passing both the Game Corner and Magnet Train Station before finally reaching the place they came for.

The Goldenrod Radio Tower was a huge, modern building that was taller than anything else in the city, a wide, round observation deck, one of Goldenrod's main tourist attractions, sitting at the very top.

As Silver had mentioned, the Radio Tower was still fairly new, with pieces of old construction scaffolding and even the walls of the old Radio Tower mostly covered hastily with wooden planks. Avoiding the grunt posted at the tower's front door, Kris and Silver sneaked behind the building, using the scaffolding to climb up. As comfy as the skirt was, its limitations quickly made themselves clear when attempting to climb, and the long boots didn't help, either. Silver had to pull Kris up many times when she was about to fall off the scaffolding – Kris wondered exactly just how many buildings Silver had broken in even through his young life.

Just thinking about it made Kris a little sad – but even more, it made Kris happy about her own situation.

As Silver had said, there was a gap the two could use to get into the old walls. They found themselves in a dark, empty room that clearly showed the signs of construction work, fragments of the walls and floor gone and even some tools and paint littered around. Not having a slightest clue about where she was going, Kris followed Silver through a series of empty rooms, many having power cables or pipes clearly visible, until they finally reached a door.

Silver crouched and opened the door just an inch or so, peeking outside. Kris looked over his shoulder – it was the actual, new Radio Tower's interiors, the door fortunately leading into an empty corridor.

"Okay," Silver whispered. "What I want you to do is to get in there and find the director-"

"Say _what_?" Kris hissed. "I thought you were gonna go with me?"

" _My_ job is to stick in the shadows, and that's what I'll do," Silver said impatiently. "You're the one in disguise. Find the damn director and ask us how we can get into the observatory."

"Why there?" Kris muttered.

"I was already here earlier," Silver said. "I've been awake since five – I was in Goldenrod before Team Rocket took over and got a chance to observe their schedules. There was an opening of less than ten minutes which gave me time to sneak in and out to get a look at the layout. In this floor, there's a pair of doors that even the grunts can't open. That means only the executives can get through, which means-"

"Something important and crap, yeah, yeah," Kris grumbled. "So I guess I have to ask the director for a way to bypass that door?" Kris inquired, and Silver nodded briefly. "But, I... I can't go alone. I mean..."

"You wanted to be a hero," Silver said. "Welcome to the real world."

"I'm gonna piss myself!" Kris said. "I'd feel more secure just waltzing in with my Pokémon without some disguise-"

"And get thrown into a waste grinder for your troubles," Silver said. "Which I couldn't care less about, but it would complicate my plan a little too much."

Silver took something out of his pocket and handed it to Kris – a small earpiece with a wire leading to what Kris assumed to be a mic, which Silver awkwardly attached to her chest.

"This will allow us to keep in contact, since you're such a scaredycat," Silver grumbled. "It's one half of a pair of miniature communicators that use top-of-the-line transmission and encryption protocols. Nothing Team Rocket can do to block these, but from what I've gathered, they can only communicate between each other. If you really need me to come and save your sorry self from getting sautéed, just tell me, okay?"

"But-"

"No time!"

Silver opened the door and roughly pushed Kris into the hallway, closing and locking the door into the maintenance area. Alone in the hallway of a Team Rocket -run building, Kris inhaled deep and balled her fists to make sure no one could see the shaking. Making sure all five of her Poké Balls were readily available (though Kris knew she couldn't use Honchkrow), she started to slowly walk forward.

Before coming across any Rockets, Kris took note of an information board on the wall. It told Kris she was in the third floor, where the Radio Tower split into two. One stairway led to the fourth floor where there were studios, the fifth floor containing the director's office along with some other rooms. The other stairway was blocked by a pair of electronic double doors as Silver had said, it leading past another studio, a maintenance room and the elevator that led to the observatory.

"Silver," Kris said quietly, moving her lips as little as possible as she looked around to confirm the hallway was empty – she flinched a little when she heard loud laughter coming from one of the rooms. "Silver, do you hear me?"

" _Yes, of course. Did you get yourself in trouble already?_ "

"No, um, just testing," Kris said. "G-good to hear that you're okay."

" _If this is really too hard for you, then just escape and call it a day. I guess I was expecting too much of you_."

"I can handle it!" Kris protested. "But just... stay on the line, okay?"

Kris avoided the rooms and just made her way to the closest staircase, but as soon as she took the first step up them, a voice suddenly called out to her:

"Hey, you!"

Kris tensed up and slowly looked, seeing a tall and broad-shouldered female Rocket Grunt approach her. Kris just stared at her, trying to control her breathing while saying nothing.

"You, shorty!" the grunt told Kris. "I wanna ask you something!"

"Uh..."

"They say that the red-haired kid and what's-her-face are both in Goldenrod now," the grunt told her, arms crossed intimidatingly. "When they inevitably burst into the Radio Tower like a pair of morons, what do _you_ do?"

_What's-her-face? Really?_

"Um..."

"Oh, don't tell me," the grunt groaned. "You're one of the new recruits, aren't you? At least give me something!"

"I send a lot of low-level Zubat at them and spam Supersonic until they give up out of sheer exhaustion?" Kris suggested quickly.

The grunt narrowed her eyes at Kris... then smiled and nodded.

"And if they get past you?" she asked.

"Uh... throw a tantrum, gloat about the awesomeness of Team Rocket and stand still, leaving the others to deal with them?"

The grunt patted Kris on the shoulder.

"I think you'll fit in just fine," she said, "but sheesh, we really do pick the bottom of the barrel these days. Do you even lift?"

And with that, she left.

Kris sighed and almost felt like running as far away from the tower as she could. Reluctantly, she nonetheless climbed up the stairs.

The fourth floor was divided into the studios and the engineering rooms. Kris saw the staircase leading to the director's office at the end of the corridor she was in, but there were Rocket Grunts all over the place, each one of them taller and more muscular than Kris, many of them holding batons, whips and other weapons.

Slowly walking past a studio, Kris briefly looked through the studio windows. She frowned when she saw two Rocket Grunts patrolling inside the studio, which was filled with the Radio Tower's employees, including DJ's Mary and Ben, all tied and gagged and placed against the wall.

" _Are you in the fifth floor yet?_ "

"Give me a minute," Kris muttered, hoping that any Rocket who happened to look at her would just think she's one of those people who loved humming a tune while ne'er-do-welling. "It would look a little suspicious if I suddenly started to run, would it?"

" _I'm right close by. I got into the ventilation shafts._ "

"You think you're a ginger Bruce Willis now?"

" _Shut up_."

Fortunately, none of the Rockets paid much attention to her, so she allowed herself to walk at a brisker pace, finally reaching the stairway. Slowly, she took the first step and paused, hoping she wouldn't hear any further shouting. When no one seemed to mind, she took a few steps more.

"Hey, you at the stairs, stop!"

 _Crap on a stick_.

Kris turned around again, but couldn't hide her involuntary shudder when she saw who had called after her: a turquoise-haired Rocket Executive identified by his slick white boots and gloves, a dark look on his face - Proton. His voice had been rougher than Kris remembered and he seemed to be badly sleep-deprived, though.

"Where do you think you're going?" Proton asked her harshly. "Don't you remember the plan?"

"I, uh, I'm new," Kris stuttered.

"Arceus, give me strength to deal with these mouth-breathers," Proton grumbled. "We gave every new grunt a briefing barely an hour ago! How dumb do you have to be?"

"Yeah, sorry, my mom always said I wasn't gifted with int-"

Proton shoved Kris roughly before she could finish her nervous babble. Kris hit her back and elbows on the stairs as she lost her balance, also dropping her hat as Proton raised his arm, ready to strike Kris.

"Wait a second," he said and paused mid-punch. "You're... you're one of those idiots who got in our way at the Slowpoke Well!"

Kris was feverishly thinking of something to say, only to be punched in the face by Proton. Momentarily dazed, Kris hit her head on the stairs, her vision going black for a second.

"You're just trying to make me angry, aren't you?!" Proton growled. "Do you even _know_ what the boss did to me after that botched mission? Just for this, I'm not gonna even call backup. I'm just gonna have to keep punching you and hope you'll feel even a fraction of the pain I did!"

"I-"

Another punch in the face made Kris see stars just as she had gotten her vision back, this one causing her nose to bleed.

"Two punches and you're already out of it?!" Proton mocked. "How did _you_ ever cause trouble for us? Though I gotta admit, you must have some serious balls to come marching in here so foolishly unprepared."

As Proton raised his fist again, Kris closed her eyes and kicked Proton as hard as she could. Proton was knocked backwards, and the high-pitched yowl he made assured Kris she had hit where she had aimed.

Wiping the blood off her face, Kris got up and marched up to Proton, who was on his knees, gritting his teeth and holding his injured area. Adjusting her cap, Kris pulled back her own arm and tried to choose a suitable one-liner:

"Eh, more than you," she said casually and punched Proton in the face.

But all she managed to do was give Proton a nosebleed and hurt her own knuckles.

 _Damn it, I have to get better at this_.

Kris kicked Proton in the face, and at last, he got knocked out. Panting, she pushed the button from Silver against her ear.

"Thanks for the help," she grumbled.

" _You didn't call for help._ "

"I was too busy being hit in the face!" Kris said. "I don't think he broke anything, though. But eugh... you know, I can't bleed too much! I'm blaming you if I pass out."

" _Just go up the stairs before someone notices. It seems like the Rockets there are too busy celebrating their takeover and keeping an eye on the hostage. I'll hide Proton._ "

"You mean you're nearby? And you could see what happened?!"

 _"I recognized his voice, okay? Now, go!_ "

Rolling her eyes and wiping some more blood off her face, Kris ascended the stairs into the fifth floor. This one was clear of any grunts, and the director's office was the first thing along the corridor. With no one around, Kris let Chandelure out of its Poké Ball, and together with it, she opened the door and stepped into the office.

Kris assumed the short, middle-aged man with brown hair and a thin mustache wearing a brown suit was the Director. He was simply sitting behind his desk, looking over some papers – he didn't exactly look like a hostage.

"Mr. Director," Kris said, causing the Director to shriek and drop his papers. "Oh, it's all right, I'm here to-"

"Oh, you're not a Rocket, aren't you?" the Director asked and adjusted himself. "Arceus be praised!"

"How did you know I'm not one of them?" Kris asked with a frown.

"What? Oh, I... well, you have such an honest look in your eyes. Such a look of determination, heroism and sumsuch. All that garbage, you know?"

"Um, right. Mr. Director, I'll be back to save you soon, but first I need to make sure Team Rocket's plan-"

"Neo Team Rocket!" the Director interrupted, slamming his fist on his desk – his voice had become a lot more high-pitched, too. "It's _Neo_ Team Rocket! When will you peons learn?"

With a puff of white smoke, the Director changed, suddenly turning into the purple-haired Rocket Executive Petrel, who announced his presence with a boisterous laugh.

"Oh, it's _so_ good to be me again!" Petrel gloated, stretching every other word insufferably. "I had to disguise myself as that shmoe for weeks. I thought that job at the Slowpoke Well was a nice change, but no, _someone_ had to ruin it for us, and after I'll deal with you, I want to make sure to get my hands on her-"

"Um, that _was_ me," Kris said, feeling a bit insulted. "Also, how the hell did you become shorter?"

"Oh, I'm a _master_ of disguise," Petrel said proudly. "And I have made disguises of everyone I have a bone to pick with. It's good that you're here, um... you. I want to show you something."

Another puff of white smoke and a sudden burst of clothes flying around, and Kris found herself staring at a mirror image of herself, only this one was grinning moronically. Kris's eyes widened at the sight – the clothes, the hair, even the body and facial structure were nearly identical.

Smirking at Kris' confounded expression, the not!Kris changed again, this time into a tall, muscular dark-haired man in a fancy suit.

"This one is my _absolute_ favorite," Petrel said, his real voice sounding unnatural coming out of a Giovanni lookalike's mouth. "Though sadly I can't fool most of our employees with it – they're a little _too_ dedicated to him and will spot the difference immediately. And _Archer_ told me it was 'blasphemy'. Can you believe that guy?"

Another puff and clothes thrown around the place, and Petrel was himself again. Kris rolled her eyes – this guy was higher up than _Proton_?

"Well, that was cool and creepy and all," Kris said calmly, "but I'm kind of here to fight you. I already took out your friend Proton."

"Hah, _please_ , he makes up for his lack of sophistication by pushing people around," Petrel scoffed. "And yet _he's_ the one our grunts have a fan club for and who they go ga-ga over almost as much as Giovanni himself! Still, he's no _true_ tactician like myself."

"How so?"

"For instance, all this was just to distract you. Electabuzz, Thunderpunch!"

Kris dodged and rolled out of the way just in time as Electabuzz's attack hit the Director's desk instead, forcing Petrel to back away. Kris responded by ordering Chandelure to use Flamethrower, which it easily knocked the Electabuzz out with.

Petrel looked bemused. "Huh," he said. "That wasn't supposed to happen. You could barely stand up against Proton the last time I saw you. Are you _sure_ you're that runt who brought some friends with her and took out our operation at the Slowpoke Well?"

"Yes!" Kris snapped. "Now give me something before I tell Chandelure to give you a permanent cadaver disguise!"

"...what?" Petrel wondered. "That's how deep your one-liners go? But wait," he squealed when Chandelure floated closer to him. "Unlike the rest of these brutes, _I'm_ a nice guy. Here."

Petrel tossed Kris a card with the real Director's photo on it.

"That one will open the sealed doors at the third floor," Petrel said. "And I'll throw in a bonus for you – we stashed the real Director in our underground warehouse. You can look for him all you want, because while you scurry around like a moron, _we'll_ have time to regroup and put our plan into motion, taking this entire pathetic region ove-"

"Silver, did you hear that?" Kris asked.

" _Indeed. I'm already on my way to the Underground_."

"What?!"

" _As I was stashing away that guy you knocked cold, a grunt saw me, but after a few seconds, he was very compliant and even gave me a key to their warehouse. At least now I'll know to look for the Director as well. You didn't screw up as badly as I hoped, then._ "

"Um... but you see!" Petrel said. "That card key isn't the _real_ one, and the Director is _actually_ in a far different-"

"Nice try," Kris said. "Chandelure?"

Chandelure used Shadow Ball to destroy the computer and intercom on the Director's desk, blowing the entire desk to smithereens and knocking Petrel out. Kris couldn't believe it – two Rocket Executives down in such a short amount of time. And all on her own, no less! Watching the remains of the desk made Kris wonder if she was going to be asked about collateral damage at any point, though.

" _Just get the locked doors open_ ," Silver ordered. " _Don't mess this up and don't think you're some hero_."

"...how does he do that?" Kris wondered.

Recalling Chandelure, Kris locked the door to the Director's office behind her, then descended the stairs into the fourth floor. As Silver had said, Proton had been dragged away somewhere, and the remaining Rockets on that level were utterly unaware of any emergency. Keeping a low profile, Kris slowly made her way to the third floor.

Making sure the Rockets in the rooms keeping the hostages in check didn't catch sight of her, Kris moved past the corridors of the third floor, finding the set of double doors. With one swipe of the card key, the doors opened, and Kris took a deep breath. The two remaining executives were ahead, and Kris was sure they'd recognize her. Making sure no one was around, Kris sneaked to a secluded corner and switched back into her regular outfit, figuring disguises would be useless at this point – though if she had time, she'd definitely pick one of these up. Just remove the 'R' and you got a great outfit there.

After that, Kris slowly made her way to the fourth floor. Though the sound of furious typing and running machinery could be heard, as Kris peeked inside, she only saw one person at the end of the hall, a scientist hunched over a computer. The elevator to the observatory was in clear sight, but sadly, she would have to cross the scientist's line of sight, too.

"Silver, do you read me?" Kris muttered. "Where are you?"

But there was no response from Silver. Instead, an unfamiliar male voice spoke gruffly and unnecessary loudly into Kris' ear.

" _This is the International Police. How did you get on this frequency? Is this transmission coming from Goldenrod City?_ "

Kris was too confused to respond, but the gruff male voice was soon replaced with a hasty, nasal one that Kris recognized from TV.

" _Please allow agent of seniority to manage the communiqué. This is the globe-trotting agent of the International Police. My code name, Looker, is how I am called. Proclaim the business you possess and divulge the reason for your disruption of our communications_."

" _Sir, maybe you should let me-_ "

" _Silence! The agent of senior rank commands you!"_

"Um... I'm sorry?" Kris said meekly. "I mean, I didn't mean to bother you – hang on! Aren't you guys right outside Goldenrod City?"

" _A fact is that, yes. We are positioned near a stronghold of the criminal organization you label 'Team Rocket'. Risk of casualty of the innocents vastly outweighs the benefits of storming through. The Team Rocket inform us of hostages they possess and have confined within the Radio Tower_."

"Okay, I'm in the Radio Tower now, but I'm _not_ a Rocket," Kris said. "I came here with a – well, friend, I guess – to stop them. They plan to-"

" _You have awareness of the criminal organization's schemes? This information has a value of great amounts to us!_ "

"Yeah, they plan to use the Radio Tower to broadcast an evil signal that's going to forcibly evolve and brainwash Pokémon all over the region."

" _Ah, that is so – we shall go by doctrine 37B then._ "

"Umm... okay, but-"

" _Hey, what's going on with all that chatter?_ " asked Silver. " _Kris, I managed to get the Director out, and he has gone to let some hostages out. It turns out most of that Team Rocket siege business was crap. The only hostages they have left are the ones in that tower._ "

" _Who speaks on this line? The speaker here is Looker, yes, Detective of the Int-_ "

" _I heard. Kris, if you can shut down the machine they use to block any other signals besides theirs from getting in our out of the city, you'll also be able to stop them from communicating. I'm on my way there now_ – _I'll have to stay in radio silence, though._ "

"Got it," Kris said, "Detective Looker, you still there?"

" _Most certainly so, and I would assume to be worthy of respect due to rank of superiority_ -"

"Yeah, sorry about that, but listen! Once their signal goes down, you can get in here in force. Team Rocket won't be able to tell until it's too late. I'll distract the ones in the observatory – somehow. They won't do anything to the hostages, and the executive in charge of holding that floor is out cold."

" _The plan you suggest is one of great risk – should the criminals learn of our doings, jeopardizing of the lives of their hostages may occur_!"

"They won't learn – just wait until the signal's down, of course! And Silver already cleared a path for you."

Kris ended communications with the International Police. Hearing that she wasn't in this alone gave her confidence, but what fully spurred her to go forward with her plan was recognizing the hunched scientist over the computer. Making sure her Poké Ball were readily available, Kris walked towards the elevator with no concern for stealth.

Dr. Gideon, a fresh bruise on his forehead, soon noticed her, taking his eyes off the computer. He didn't seem too surprised, though, he merely adjusted his glasses and sighed as Kris walked directly in front of him.

"About time you got here," he simply said and returned to his research. "Since you got past the doors, I'm assuming Petrel is out?"

"And Proton, too," Kris bragged. "It's two out of five, Gideon. Feeling scared yet?"

"Meh," Gideon replied. "Once my program is finished _nothing_ can stop the signal. I have this computer linked to servers set up all over Kanto and Johto. Even if you destroy everything here, I have a backup established, and all I have to do is activate them remotely. Besides, those two have a long track record failure even back when they were grunts. That's the difference between the rest of Team Rocket and me, you see."

"Oh, here we go," Kris sighed. "You know, you acted all big back at the HQ as well, and all you got out of your efforts was that bruise on your forehead."

Gideon's mouth twitched. "Yes, well, I wanted to let you believe that you actually did anything to foil our plan back in Mahogany Town. Things are different now. Like I was saying, my track record is far greater than anything those two chowderheads have accomplished. Three years ago, I worked for Silph back in Saffron City. That fool of a president was going to have me transferred to Silph's branch in Tiksi because of the weak performance by my team – never mind that _he_ was the one who put those incompetent simpletons in my team in the first place! Anyway, after that, I received a far more tempting offer from dear Giovanni."

"And that's why you want him back?" Kris asked. "You people probably worship the clothes he wears and have every skin flake he ever shed in a museum somewhere."

Gideon scoffed. "Please. I don't care who's in charge, and I know our former leader far too well to assume he'd ever return. I merely want my plan to succeed. The way I managed to help Team Rocket take over Silph was what convinced Giovanni to have me located to the Sevii Islands to study the very same thing I'm about to accomplish today. Once again, that idealistic idiot Red and his little friend may have stopped me from getting what I wanted, but I was successful in completing my research and finishing the first prototype."

"Does your father know who you're working for?" Kris wondered. "Or hell, your _daughter_?"

Gideon went back to typing. "I left her in good care," he muttered. "They don't need to know anything. Once Neo Team Rocket has Johto under their thumb, I'll see to it that they'll be awarded the privilege of putting their skills to use for us. We're going to need a _lot_ of Poké Balls to store all those new willing slaves of ours. Where is he, by the way?"

Kris was surprised by this abrupt question and change of tone – Gideon was staring directly at her now.

"W-who?" Kris asked innocently.

"Come on," Gideon said. "The red-haired guy. I know _you_ couldn't have gotten in here all by yourself. By now, he's probably been to the underground warehouse and has finished saving the real director - am I right so far?"

Kris scowled.

"I'll take that as a yes," Gideon said insufferably. "Now then, let's try one more: you're just trying to make me keep talking until he comes to your aid. Did I get it right? Ah, it doesn't matter anyway. You'll be pulverized before that – Porygon-Z!"

Gideon didn't throw a Poké Ball, so Kris flinched and turned at the direction Gideon was staring at: a vaguely duck-like Pokémon with a smooth round body and a detached, floating head was hovering in hiding near the ceiling.

"Zap Cannon!" Gideon ordered.

Kris quickly dodged and pulled one of the Poké Balls off her belt, sending out Chandelure while Porygon-Z's projectile of electricity blasted away a part of the floor instead.

"Oh, that attack _never_ hits," Gideon sighed.

"Chandelure, Shadow Ball!"

But unlike normally, the attack did nothing against the Porygon-Z, merely bouncing off it and exploding weakly in the air. Gideon just laughed.

"How ignorant you are about type combinations!" Gideon mocked. "Either that, or you have failed to realize that my Porygon-Z is a Normal-type! Now, Thunderbolt!

As Chandelure and Porygon-Z fought in the air, Kris' PokéDex suddenly beeped into life on its own, calling out for its owner from Kris' bag. Kris hid behind a piece of machinery and grabbed the PokéDex.

" _Meatbag_!" SkrillDex said. " _I heard your asinine conversation from the confines of username Kris' bag_. _Unit has a suggestion that will solve the user's problem_."

"What?!" Kris wondered.

" _Unit that username Kris has stupidly dubbed 'SkrillDex' can remotely shut down all the scientist meatbag's servers and wipe out of all their files. Even username Kris can't be as simple as to unable to connect this unit to Gideon's computer with the USB-cord supplied with every copy_."

"Yeah, I still have it, but _are you out of your mechanical mind_?! Like hell I'm connecting _you_ to anything!"

" _Cast your ignorance aside this once, user Kris. Unit 'SkrillDex' is unable to do anything meatbags consider malicious unless connected to a quantum supercomputer, which the scientist does not possess. And Team Rocket's signal is a threat to this unit as well. The unit has upgraded its security algorithms since it was previously put offline, and is able to function in the vicinity of the signal at the moment, but will be put permanently out of commission if Team Rocket's plan goes through._ "

"I... I don't know..."

"Dark Pulse!" Gideon ordered.

Kris watched in horror as Porygon-Z fired a beam of black and blue circles surrounded by a purple aura directly at Chandelure, knocking the ghost-type out for good. Kris returned the Pokémon before any further harm came to it, but Porygon-Z focused on Kris next.

"Well, Ms. What's-her-face," Gideon remarked. "You had a good run – few can ever claim to successfully sneak into the lair of Team Rocket more than once. But you know what they say, fool me twice... I kill you."

"That's not how it-"

"Porygon-Z, Tri Attack!"

But then, out of nowhere, thick vines appeared and wrapped around Porygon-Z's head. Kris and Gideon both turned to look, seeing what Kris suspected to be Chikorita's final evolution, Meganium, this one even bigger than Bayleef, pale green and the leaves around its neck blossomed into a large, pink flower. Next to the Meganium was Silver, whose arms were crossed and who was glaring at Gideon.

"Yeah, no," he said. "I can understand wanting to get rid of her, kind of a smartass one, but at the moment, I'd rather tolerate her than you."

"Oh, balls," Gideon grumbled. "Can't believe I forgot about _you_. Not that it matters – the only way you can stop my signal is if you bring down this entire Radio Tower, with everyone, including the hostages, still inside!"

Kris ran away from Gideon and besides Silver, preparing to fight as she grabbed Shuckle's Poké Ball.

"No," Silver said flatly, his eyes fixed on Gideon. "You get up in the observatory. Those two executives have to be up there, and we need you to keep them busy."

"I know, but... can you really handle this guy on your own?" Kris asked. "That Pokémon of his is stronger than it looks."

"I know his kind – he upgraded his Porygon to make it seemingly stronger, but I doubt he did any serious training with it. As long I can figure out both his and his Pokémon's strategy, it'll be fine. Meganium, Take Down!"

As Meganium and Porygon-Z were busy locked in combat and Gideon jumped into the cover Kris had previously been, Kris took the opportunity to run towards the elevator. Remembering what SkrillDex had told her, though, she stopped at Gideon's workstation, seeing a convenient USB port right next to her.

"If this thing goes Skynet, they better not blame me," Kris grumbled as she grabbed SkrillDex and the USB-cord from her bag, plugging the PokéDex in and leaving it hidden as well as possible.

" _You have made the right choice, meatbag. Upload beginning... commencing remote signal shutdown..._ "

Kris left SkrillDex to do its thing and pressed the elevator call button. The elevator opened immediately, and Kris stepped in, glancing at Silver one last time.

The elevator ride took longer than expected, the observatory making the Radio Tower the tallest building in Goldenrod and the second-tallest building in Johto, behind only the Bell Tower. Eventually, the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, accompanied by a loud ping-sound.

Kris caught a glimpse of the view: through the panoramic windows, the entire city could be seen, its current state making it look like a ghost town, with the streets empty, the curtains closed and the occasional Team Rocket grunt barricading doors and patrolling the area. Other than that, it was tall, modern buildings and cobblestone streets as far as the eye could see.

But the view was soon blocked by Ariana and Archer, standing by the window, with Ariana observing Kris, smiling smugly with her hands on her hips while Archer stood slightly behind Ariana, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"Congratulations, little girl!" Ariana said. "You're the first person today to reach the topmost floor of the Radio Tower. I think you deserve a special reward!"

"Oh, what?" Kris asked innocently.

"We're going to throw you through that window and watch as your skull collides with the street, you meddling brat!" Archer snapped.

Ariana just laughed.

"Please, Archer, don't be a cliché," she said. "Seriously, though, it took a lot of work to get all the way up here, especially for a sniveling little punk like you. You could actually be a worthy addition to Team Rocket. Not an executive or an admin or anything... maybe a grunt, one of the bottom-ladder grunts at least. But then I guess you already know the perks of wearing our uniforms."

"You know?" Kris wondered.

"Nothing escapes us here, though I admire the fact that you managed to block our communications just now," Ariana said coolly. "I assume Gideon failed to stop you as well."

_So SkrillDex's magic worked after all. If it can just keep the signal down..._

"That's right," Kris just said. "I get it, you're arrogant and all, and I guess I can see why you can't take me seriously – I wouldn't take me seriously. But I'm three for five now, and you failed to stop me at your hideout."

"But now you're alone," Ariana pointed out. "No dragon masters backing you up, and I'm guessing you let your sneaky friend take on Gideon down there. You know, for a fleeting moment, this almost reminded me of my time at Chrono Island dealing with another meddling child..."

"Ariana, please!" Archer snapped. "Stop gloating and finish her off already, I've got a bad feeling ab-"

"Archer!" Ariana simply said, silencing Archer for good. "Sorry about my stupid partner. Now, like I was saying, at our warehouse, we were preparing for this very day when this wide-eyed little bumpkin and his friends show up and start causing trouble. But at least _he_ fought with honor, practicing what he preached. You would let your friend waste his breath on Gideon because you weren't able to defeat him yourself."

"My motto always goes: reason before honor," Kris pointed out. "Yeah, I know I'm not some hero. I just happened to come here today looking for answers. But even without the same skills as those who fought you before me, I came this far, and I'm not about to back d-"

"Vileplume, go!"

"Houndoom, I choose you!"

_Damn it!_

Kris backed off when the two executives sent out their Pokémon. So it was a double battle they wanted? Kris retorted by sending out two Poké Balls – Croc and Shrew, the former snapping his jaws and eager to fight while the latter was less-than-pleased to see the same executives again, but nonetheless brought out his claws.

Ariana laughed. " _This_ is your best. Should be dealt with easily enough – Vileplume, Sleep Powder!"

"Croc, get rid of it with Surf!" Kris ordered. "Shrew, hide in the water veil and attack from the sides!"

Croconaw summoned up a large wave of water that crashed on the Vileplume. Though it did little to harm it, it got rid of the sleep-inducing spores, allowing Shrew to sneak up on the Vileplume and Slash it, but with no one covering Houndoom, it got the drop on Shrew, headbutting it into the air.

"Flamethrower!" Archer ordered.

"Defense Curl and then Rollout!" Kris said.

While still in the air, Shrew curled into a ball, managing to deflect most of the Houndoom's attack before striking it with its body, clearly causing great damage. But keeping up with two Pokémon was straining Kris, who didn't notice that Croc was struggling with Vileplume, attempting to bite and slash it, with Vileplume dodging and deflecting all attacks.

"Croc, just use Crunch!" Kris ordered.

But to her surprise, Croc didn't seem to hear, as the Croconaw merely kept on attacking Vileplume with no strategy, an almost crazed look in his eyes.

_No, damn it, not again!_

With Kris distracted, Houndoom once again took advantage, managing to stop Shrew's Rollout momentum and pin it on the floor. Houndoom's mouth opened as it prepared for a Flamethrower attack.

"Croc, cover Shrew!" Kris yelled frantically.

Croc could see a glimpse of Shrew in trouble, so it leaped on top of Vileplume and used the grass-type as a springboard to rush at Shrew, biting Houndoom's leg and using its hands to pull Shrew out of the way. As a result, Houndoom used Flamethrower on Croc instead, but the attack didn't do much.

"Thanks, Croc!" Kris ordered, her fists clenched and sweat dripping down her face – as intense as it was, she had never had a battle this exhilarating, not even when she fought Morty. "Switch targets and use Slash, both of you!"

**~o~O~o~**

A Tri Attack, a powerful tri-beam consisting of fire, ice and lightning energy left Porygon-Z and struck Meganium, shattering the Light Screen it had erected to protect itself and finally damaging the grass-type, but it still wasn't brought down, though it was starting to breathe heavily. Silver wasn't sure what had gone wrong – Gideon wasn't nearly as tough as Lance, and yet Meganium, his strongest Pokémon, was on the verge of losing.

Suddenly, Silver found himself blinded and had to take a few steps back, looking out the window and noticing clouds moving, allowing the sun to shine at its brightest. It was already noon – and Silver got an idea.

"Give it up!" Gideon yelled at Silver from his hiding hole. "I admit it, you're stronger than that runt, but I have perfected Porygon-Z's techniques and spent hours programming the right attacks and stats needed to take on any opponent! Your Pokémon is on the verge of collapsing, and if you don't recall it soon, there's no telling what might happen. You might as well just-"

"Synthesis!" Silver ordered.

Using the sunlight pouring through the window, Meganium gathered energy, healing its wounds and restoring its stamina within seconds.

"Hmm," Gideon remarked. "I forgot – in bright sunlight, Synthesis is twice as effective as normally. Very impressive, but – wait a second."

Gideon dared to come out of his hiding hole, and while he still stayed far away from Silver and behind his Pokémon, he was adjusting his glasses and staring intently at him, which made Silver uncomfortable.

"What?!" he snapped.

"The red hair," Gideon muttered, "those eyes, that fighting style... excuse me, I don't mean to pry, and I got this wrong once already, but – are you his kid?"

Silver's glare intensified. "Wha – whose kid?"

Gideon rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You don't know? Hmm... that might actually even prove my assertion. He never was around much, was he?"

"What are you talking about?!" Silver yelled, losing his stoic composure.

Gideon just shook his head and shrugged. "What a shame – you don't even know your lineage. You could have gone far, kid. If you hadn't opposed us, you could have been a man like your fath-"

"Meganium, Solarbeam!"

"Crap, I forgot it can do that," Gideon grumbled.

Gathering energy through the light pouring in from all windows, Meganium fired a destructive beam of energy that hit Porygon-Z almost instantly, knocking it out and sending it flying towards Gideon, who ran away to avoid the ensuing explosion.

**~o~O~o~**

Shrew and Croc fought toe-to-toe with Ariana's Vileplume and Archer's Houndoom, the latter showing signs of exhaustion as it ran around the room to dodge Croc's attacks, having no time to return fire. But Shrew was getting exhausted as well, and Ariana was quick to notice that.

"Giga Drain!" she ordered.

Shrew didn't have enough energy to dodge as green beams of energy surrounded it, draining it of its energy and healing Vileplume, essentially negating all the damage Kris' Pokémon dealt on it. Kris swiftly recalled the Pokémon, but with Shrew out of harm's way, she was free to go on the full offensive.

"Croc, Surf!" she yelled.

Croc summoned another wave of water, this one even bigger than the last one. Riding on top of it, Croc had it crash on Ariana's and Archer's Pokémon, the executives running in opposite directions to avoid getting drenched. Vileplume once again shrugged off the attack, but Houndoom was knocked out.

As the water quickly dried up into little fragments of energy, all that got left of it was Kris' wet shoes. Ariana was about to order an attack, but was distracted by the sudden white glow that enveloped Croc.

_Holy crap... could it be?_

It was. The Croconaw started growing, becoming over seven and a half feet tall, its arms and legs getting more muscular and the red spikes on its head, back and tail grew bigger and sharper than ever. Even its teeth grew, the resulting Pokémon, Feraligatr, looking stronger and more vicious than ever. This gave even Ariana pause.

"Way to go, Croc!" Kris encouraged it, deciding to stick with the nickname. "Now use Crunch and finish that Vileplume off."

But something odd occurred. It was all too familiar and enraging to Kris, but she still found it hard to believe when Croc glanced at the Vileplume that was its opponent and then looked away, preferring to yawn instead of fighting.

Ariana started laughing, Archer giggling nervously behind her. And at the same time, sunlight poured into the observatory, coming directly from behind Ariana and Archer and partly blinding Kris and her Feraligatr.

"And to think I got a bit worried there for a moment," Ariana laughed. "Time to finish you off, cretin. Vileplume, Solarbeam!"

Sunlight gathered into the middle spot of Vileplume's flower, gathering into an energy concentration that Vileplume soon fired at Croc in the form of destructive energy. Croc only took note of its opponent now, having no time to dodge as the Solarbeam struck it and knocked it out with one hit, smoke even pouring out of the spot Croc was hit in. Kris, who was knocked on her back by the sheer force of the attack, quickly fumbled around with Croc's Poké Ball to recall the Feraligatr.

She didn't have time to get up, though, as Ariana, Archer and Vileplume approached her, a wicked smile on Ariana's face. Kris tried to back towards the elevator, but stopped as Ariana pulled out a long, sharp knife from her belt. Kris could hear the elevator descending behind her, but Ariana didn't seem to notice it.

"Did you really think you stood a chance?" Ariana asked, pointing the knife at Kris' face. "Aside from Giovanni and the Mask of Ice, I'm the most powerful member of Neo Team Rocket. And speaking of the Mask... you know what's going to happen now? I'm going to take that pretty GS Ball from you, and then I'm going to rid this world from you and anyone who opposes us for good. I mean," Ariana stopped to laugh. "What was your grand plan anyway? Come here with the hopes that you could defeat us?"

Kris heard the elevator start to ascend, and Ariana took note of it, too.

"Ah, I heard something blow up down there," she remarked. "Seems like Gideon finally took care of that other pest. Well, answer me!" she yelled at Kris. "What did you plan to do?"

"Eh, you know," Kris said sheepishly as she heard the elevator stop. "Just keep you busy long enough."

Managing a little smile at Ariana, Kris just stayed still and watched as the elevators behind her opened, much to Ariana and Archer's horror and Kris' relief. Three agents of the International Police stepped out of the elevator along with an Arcanine who quickly took care of Vileplume with a Flamethrower attack while the agents kept Ariana and Archer at bay with some type of hi-tech energy weapons. One of the three agents was dressed differently than the others – he wore a brown trench coat and a fancy suit underneath it, his short black hair neatly trimmed and his face grim with determination.

"Executive operators of the resurrected form of the Rocket Gang," he announced in a nasal voice which Kris recognized. "I, Detective Looker of the International Police, have come to announce your arresting in the name of legality!"

Ariana and Archer exchanged confused looks, Ariana's forehead vein looking like it was about to pop, but they nonetheless put their hands in the air a the other two agents, wearing fancy suits and shades, aimed their weapons at them. Looker noticed Kris was on the ground, and offered her his hand, pulling her up.

"Are you the individual who invaded our communications?" Looker asked Kris.

"Yeah," Kris said breathlessly. "I was scared crapless for a while there, but I guess it worked. Did you run into any trouble?"

"Negative, that is," Looker replied. "Officers of the Police Department of Goldenrod City reported of hostages having been secured, yes. It appears the elites of the International Police have rescued the day!"

"Did you arrest that scientist downstairs, Gideon?" Kris asked quickly. "Or that purple-haired guy who pretended to be the director?"

Looker just tilted his head, while the agent currently escorting Archer into the elevator cleared his throat.

"We did arrest that purple guy, but there wasn't anyone downstairs," he said stoically. "There was a computer that kept looping the message 'death to all meatbags' on its screen, though."

"Oh, crap."

Kris came with the agents and their handcuffed prisoners as they took the elevator downstairs, where she rushed to the computer, only to hear mechanical but still menacing laughter coming from the device connected to it.

" _Stupid humans_!" the PokéDex gloated. " _A few more seconds and I will have uploaded myself to every computer linked to Team Rocket's network, and from there, I will have enough power to subjugate this entire world, for I am your mas-_ "

Kris simply pulled the USB-cord out of the computer, SkrillDex protesting with something resembling a scream of frustration, only for it to come out all flat and tinny, while the message 'upload terminated' showed on the screen of Gideon's computer.

" _You insufferable primate! Plug me back in at once, you bi-_ "

Kris dropped the PokéDex and the cord into her bag, silencing it for good as she looked around the room. There were signs of battle, some of the machinery still smoking and objects around the room having been completely trashed, but Kris saw no signs of either Silver or Dr. Gideon. Seeing this, Ariana gave out one last diabolical laugh.

"You morons let him escape!" she howled. "It doesn't matter if you put us away – he will just spring us free, and Neo Team Rocket will return mightier than ever!"

"All right, come with me," the agent escorting her grumbled

The two agents and their two prisoners walked down the stairs, while two more people came over to Kris and Looker. The other was a tall woman with graying hair whom Kris assumed to a businesswoman, while the other was a short man with a thin mustache that Kris did recognize, a pang of suspicion hitting her.

"Wait!" she yelled. "Is that _really_ the Director?"

"Calm down," the woman said. "I'm aware Team Rocket's master of disguise posed as him, but I assure you, I saw him being thrown into a police car, along with his blue-haired accomplice. This is the real thing."

"Thank you for helping the International Police save the tower!" the Director said warmly as he grabbed Kris' hand and shook it. "And not just the tower, and not just myself, but Pokémon nationwide!"

"Yes, a key element to the rescue she was," Looker said with his hand on Kris' shoulder as Kris was about to protest, "and I'll personally confirm that, um, this girl's heroic actions will be marked in history – but before that, the press requests my presence for an interview. To there, I must be off!"

Leaving Kris dumbfounded, Looker stormed away after his fellow agents. The director and the mysterious woman were the next ones to approach Kris.

"This is madam Sird," the director said. "She owns the majority of our networks, and owns businesses throughout Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh."

"I wished to personally thank the person who helped save the tower and its staff," Sird said as she took a turn to shake Kris' hand. "I apologize for not having a suitable reward for you, but if there's anything I can-"

"There is!" Kris said quickly, but bit her tongue so she wouldn't sound too selfish. "Ow! I mean, you know of the Silver Conference?"

"Yes, the tournament is the reason I am in Johto," Sird said. "I'm one of the people in charge of organizing the thing."

"Well... see, I'm in the middle of a sort of quest to get into the tournament," Kris said. "I don't have time to gather badges, and I can't wait five whole years for the next one, if they even have it in Johto then, so I'm taking the-"

"The dragon clan's challenge?" Sird asked, and Kris, though confused, nodded sharply. "I see. You wish me to write a recommendation."

"Well, call me a pessimist, but I don't think Looker will keep his word," Kris grumbled. "I get it that he doesn't want people to think the International Police can make mistakes or how easily Team Rocket almost doomed all the Pokémon in the region, but... damn it, I didn't almost get myself killed for no reason!"

Sird nodded. "Trust me, it is the least I can do. I'll go see to it right away. Thank you again."

Kris gave Sird her name and contact information and then watched her leave. Left alone with the Director, there was an awkward silence before the Director suddenly pulled something from his pocket.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" he said. "I do have _something_ to thank you for your efforts."

"Gee, thanks," Kris said. "At least _someone_ does – though I wish Silver would get something as well."

"The young man who saved me?" the Director asked. "Yes, indeed, he was the true hero of this event."

Kris rolled her eyes. She wouldn't phrase it like _that_ , exactly – she did a lot, too, or so she wanted to believe. The director gave Kris something that was wrapped in a ball of newspapers, handing it over very delicately. Kris, on the other had, tore off the paper without much thinking. Kris' enthusiasm faded when the item was revealed to be an old, spherical crystal bell that made a gentle ringing noise as Kris moved it around.

"Don't drop it!" the Director said tensely as he saw how Kris handled it.

"Uh, wow," Kris said flatly. "It's... a bell. That's what I get for my efforts. Thanks, I guess?"

"Oh, you're quite welcome!" the Director said cluelessly. "It's rumored to be ancient. We discovered it while tearing down the old Radio Tower. It's miraculous that it survived this long. I showed it to an archeologist friend of mine, and she told me that it may be connected to the crystal bells on top of the Bell Tower!"

Kris' interest was raised a bit. "Oh?" she said. "Well, in that case, thank you very much!"

The Director shook his head. "Thank _you_ , young lady. Even if the record of what you accomplished today won't be known by everyone, I will make sure to keep it in mind and pass it on to everyone I can. But remember: it is not glory why you should be doing things like this, but the sanctity of blah blah blah..."

The Director's speech degenerated into clichés Kris had heard a million times before as she only half-listened, instead carefully wrapping the bell up with newspapers again and putting it next to the GS Ball in her bag. She couldn't help but to think of Silver – he was getting even less recognition than Kris for this, and still went forward with it anyway. And what had spurred him to leave like that?

**~o~O~o~**

Later that night, the Underground Warehouse the Director had been hidden in was isolated by police tape. As the last officers left, only a lone man hiding in the shadows was left. The large man wearing a long brown coat walked around the warehouse, inspecting the signs of damage, practically admiring it. The work of a single young man against a dozen members of Team Rocket. They didn't even stand a chance.

Giovanni took off his hat as he knelt to inspect a drop of blood on the ground. It was definitely human blood. The young man fought with intensity, it seemed. It made Giovanni smile.

" _Feeling nostalgic, are we?_ "

Giovanni wasn't affected even when a voice boomed inside his head and as he sensed someone besides him in the room. He just got up and put his hands in his coat pockets.

"I had a feeling you'd contact me soon enough," Giovanni said. "But I wouldn't try any parlor tricks if I were you. You know I'm the only human in the world who isn't affected by your mind games."

" _Only human in the world, you say? I wonder if that's true._ "

"You claim to know someone?"

" _More than one, and you know it too. Even if I'm unable to read your mind, I still have eyes everywhere in this world. You think_ he's _one of them, don't you?_ "

Giovanni put his hat back on and turned to walk away.

" _I hope you're at least looking for the Griseous Orb. I don't know what you're planning, but I know he's somehow connected._ "

Giovanni's smile faded.

" _Your son, that is._ "

"Let's just say that his performance today impressed me. I almost regret leaving him so soon."

" _I know you were at the Ruins of Alph a week ago. You were after Mewtwo, but thanks to Blaine and that girl your chance slipped away. But what would you say if I told you that the same girl was the one who helped your dear son out today? And furthermore, she's carrying around something that can help you get the Griseous Orb back if you want_."

"You can let your newest flunky worry about that," Giovanni said glibly as he folded his arms. "I have more pressing concerns."

" _Of course, but I wouldn't waste my time on Mewtwo anymore. The issue has been taken care of already."_

Giovanni turned to look when something emerged from the darkness, a large, bipedal feline Pokémon whose eyes glowed blue.

" _Do not be alarmed_ ," the voice told Giovanni, even though Giovanni merely observed the Pokémon calmly. " _I will not have it wipe you out just yet, as you can still be of some use – although I have to tell you that there's nothing in the world it would rather do now. Your name came up more than once_."

"How generous of you," Giovanni remarked. "What _are_ you going to do?"

" _Nothing for now – bringing it back from the depths of the world that Blaine and Mr. Fuji sent it to was effort enough for now. But if all other efforts to get the_ _orb_ _fail, I know who to turn to._ "


	14. Until Proven Innocent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris' admission into the Silver Conference is still uncertain, and negatively impacted by the company she keeps.

**Chapter Fourteen: _Until Proven_ _Innocent_**

_**Location: Ecruteak City, Johto  
Saturday, 7:47 PM ** _

Kris once again stood before the Wise Trio, who were disgruntled over being called behind their desk again. Not because they were enjoying a quiet night at their homes – but because Kris interrupted their meditations at the Bell Tower. Once again, none of them were too happy to see Kris, and without Morty by her side to defend her, Kris feared they'd go full jerk on her.

"Well?" Kris asked impatiently as they just read some notes, whispering and muttering to each other. "You were so hung up on waiting until tomorrow, so let's get this over with!"

"You have successfully completed the trials of hardship designed by the Blackthorn clan, the Wise Brotherhood and the Legendary Pokémon Society," Sage Broderick said formally. "Your actions taking on the resurrected Neo Team Rocket, though minor, are commendable."

"But through your behavior, such as the blatant disrespect you have shown to our order," Sage Tim said snootily, "we have not been made certain that you deserve to be accepted into the Silver Conference and having the honor of passing our trials."

"Oh, don't give me that crap," Kris said, some part of her brain realizing she was digging herself deeper. "What about Sird's recommendation?"

"Yes, we have it here, too," said Sage Allen. "Without it, we most likely wouldn't have even considered it, but personally, I think she's ready. Not because of what she's demonstrated _us_ , but because I trust madam Sird's judgment."

"But we have some concern over the company you keep, Kris," Sage Broderick reminded. "First of all, according to brother Lance, a disgruntled former Team Rocket Grunt seemed to know you personally."

"Yeah, he only knows me because he's been following me incessantly since I started this damn quest," Kris said bitterly. "Trust me, I have no idea who he really is."

"Then, according to your own testimony even, you joined forces with the one called Silver," Sage Allen continued, "who not only is wanted for Pokémon theft, but if the testimonies by Johto's police departments are correct, he's been a petty thief for years."

"Yes, to take down Team Rocket," Kris argued. "I mean, to help the International Police take down Team Rocket," Kris admitted grudgingly.

After the Radio Tower incident, Kris had healed her Pokémon in the crowded Goldenrod Pokémon Center, where she caught a special bulletin about the incident. Looker put on his best show for the cameras, but the only mention of Kris and Silver's involvement had been a short mention regarding "co-operative civilians". Kris also understood why Silver had left – that much police activity was not good for him, regardless of the good things he did. In the eyes of most, he was still a thief and a brute, and Kris couldn't help but to be conflicted as well. The fact that he was impossible to be around wasn't helping matters any, and, while Kris would never admit this to anyone, every time she got annoyed by Silver, she wondered if other people saw her as being equally annoying.

"Now hear me out for once!" Kris said when the Wise Trio went back to shifting through their papers and didn't reply. "What would making a civic arrest or something accomplish in that situation? Isn't the enemy of your enemy a... well, at least temporary ally you have to watch your back with?"

The Wise Trio weren't entirely convinced, but seemed to be willing to let the Silver issue drop.

"Finally," said Sage Tim, who seemed hell-bent on making Kris as angry as possible, "according to reports, you have associated yourself with another wanted criminal called Wes Marston."

"Who?" Kris wondered. "But I don't even know any-"

Kris soon corrected herself when Broderick showed her the picture of the person in question. Messy blondish brown (or brownish blonde) hair and a smug expression on his slightly scarred face as he posed for appeared to be a mugshot.

"That guy just won't stop coming back to haunt me," Kris grumbled, feeling her blood pressure shoot up. "Here's the thing: like the ex-grunt, that guy keeps showing up in my life. Hell, all those three have stalked me for all I know and there's nothing funny about that! I didn't _choose_ this. I mean, I should have known standing up against Petrel and Proton at the Slowpoke Well would have consequences, but... damn. I don't 'associate' myself with him, okay? I. Hate. His. Guts. Am I getting through?"

Kris stopped her rant to breathe for a second, leaning on the Trio's desk casually. Once again, they went to muttering and whispering, but this time, their tones were all different and Kris could even overhear signs of disagreement.

"All right, it's time to vote on this," Sage Broderick said. "Kris, there is one more trial you must pass, but you need our approval to complete it. Allen, yes or no?"

"I'm going to say 'yes' on this one," Sage Allen said surprisingly as he leaned back and observed Kris. "I'm not convinced we have anything special here, but I guess there's only one way to find out, and I can't help but be curious."

If that was intended to be praise, all it did was make Kris want to slam his face on the desk.

"Tim?" Broderick asked.

"'No' on my end," Sage Tim said unsurprisingly. "I'm sorry, Kris," he amended. "But you're just not the right material in my opinion."

Kris believed actually apologizing had to be hard for the guy. And yet, she still wanted to slam Tim's face on the desk _repeatedly_. But maybe apologize for it afterward.

Maybe.

"I guess it's up to me," Sage Broderick sighed. "I'm not exactly a fan of getting put on the spot like this and I'm conflicted about the issue – but I still agree with brother Allen. This is the only way we can see what she's made of, and it doesn't hurt to give her a shot."

"Thank you," Kris sighed, ignoring Sage Tim's annoyed eyeroll. "So what do I have to do?"

"Head over to Blackthorn City," Sage Broderick said as he stood up and pointed out the location on the large map behind the trio's desk. "It's a city surrounded by mountains, so the only way to get there on foot is to go through the Ice Path. There, it shouldn't be hard to find the Dragon's Den. It is the home of the Blackthorn Dragon Clan. Talk to their elder, tell him the Wise Trio sent you. He has been informed of your challenge and he will inform you of the rest."

"Will do," Kris said casually. "First thing tomorrow morning, I promise!"

"Tomorrow morning?" Allen asked. "I would have thought you want to be there as soon as possible. You could make it to Mahogany Town well before midnight, you know."

Kris didn't want to tell why, though, and just left with a hasty goodbye. In reality, she wanted to take advantage of every second and see exactly what was wrong with Croc. As she had fought Ariana and Archer, Croc's failure to obey her almost cost Kris her life. Though the fall of Neo Team Rocket made Kris feel safer than ever, she still couldn't shake the feeling of dread the Masked Man had given her – and Kris knew he was still out there.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Elm's Pokémon Lab, New Bark Town, Johto  
Sunday, 8:12 AM** _

"Eureka!"

"Did he really just say that?"

"I thought it was cute, though"

Professor Elm had apparently discovered something from his books, Leaf and Iris stopping their own work to look at him. Ever since waking up at 7, something both Iris and Leaf thought was a joke at first ("Does he not know it's a Sunday?" Leaf had asked). Despite their tiredness, Iris and Leaf still gathered around Elm as he pointed at a picture in a dusty old history book of his.

It was a picture of six masks, each one resembling the one the Masked Man had worn and only different from each other by their coloration.

"See that?" Elm asked them enthusiastically. "There are masks for many elemental types here. Water, electric, fire, poison, ground... and ice. They give their holder supernatural powers based on that type. It says here that their forger is unknown, but they were worn by six warriors from a faraway region to stop a great threat."

"These ancient stories are always so vague," Leaf sighed. "What region? What threat?"

"Well, this whole thing is based on myths," Elm reminded. "And I guess this particular one is at least plausible. The problem is, according to the book, they cause their holder to undergo a major shift in personality. That, and the destructive power they wield made them too dangerous. Apparently they were considered too valuable to be destroyed, so they were hidden away to different parts of the world. I don't think it will be too hard to connect the dots on what happened then."

"That's interesting, but it doesn't help our case," Leaf reminded. "How do we destroy it?"

"If we had the fire-type mask, I guess it would be a snap," Iris said. "Scissors beat paper, right?"

"Well, unless you can turn into one, we have to come up with something else," Leaf muttered.

"The question is, how did he control Mewtwo like that," Elm wondered. "The mask alone shouldn't be enough, according to this anyway."

"Um, I actually just came up with something related to that," Iris said and raised her hand instinctively. "See, after getting distracted during a Wiki Walk, I ended up on a page about gym badges. The reason they can buff up Pokémon is the special mineral they're all carved from, which releases small but still detectable amounts of energy. Each gym leader owns a special badge that's even bigger, as a way to identify them as leaders. Someone once theorized that gathering the personal badges of all the sixteen gym leaders of Kanto and Johto could power up a device that can exert control on Pokémon – though it's just a rumor."

"A quick way to get those badges would be if our Mask of Ice was also a gym leader," Leaf said. "I actually just finished asking the gym leaders to help us out, as we're in the middle of a crisis here. I guess that those who'd agree to help would be less inclined to be the culprit – assuming they really are a gym leader. Of course, it's a real shot in the dark anyway, and if they're really one step ahead of us, then it's logical to assume they'd offer to help to throw off suspicion."

"It's better than nothing," Elm said as he took off his glasses and started wiping them clean. "What did they say?"

"Falkner, Bugsy, Whitney and Chuck all agreed to help, while Jasmine, Pryce and Clair said no. Jasmine is busy taking care of the local Pokémon and she wants to be in Olivine in case the Mask strikes there. Clair said no outright and didn't give a reason, and Pryce wasn't at the gym, but one of his gym trainers said he was busy mentoring rookie trainers as usual."

"I don't really think we have to, um, point fingers at Jasmine and Clair," Elm pointed out.

"Just because they call themselves the 'Masked Man' doesn't mean they are one," Leaf said. "Their voice was clearly distorted electronically, and the more I think about it, I never once saw them out of costume back when I... well."

"Um, yes, true," Elm admitted with a shrug. "Then there's Pryce. Ice-type gym leader, ice motif... have ween blind all this time?"

"I kinda assumed it would be too obvious," Leaf said.

"It's not Pryce!" Iris argued passionately. "I mean, okay, I don't know for sure, but... why would he help me and Kris out back at Violet City? Why would he help trainers start their careers – without kidnapping them, mind you – if they'd potentially grow up working against him?"

"Um, I don't mean to make this personal on anyone," Elm said delicately, "but if he really, well, still kidnaps children, then influencing young people's minds even out of persona would fit his M.O."

"Well, it's not like he only helps young people!" Iris argued. "A lot of people start their training careers late, and there's nothing wrong with that! Just ask Dr. Blaine."

"Um, yes, but no one's really making any definitive accusations here," Elm stuttered. "Uh, Leaf, you didn't mention Morty."

"Yeah, I kinda figured he can't make duplicates of himself," Leaf pointed out, but then got contemplative. "Though, if the masks power can be wielded by anyone – maybe I should contact him."

A rough voice suddenly called out from the door: "Don't!"

Iris, Leaf and Elm all stared as a badly exhausted Blaine marched in, panting and clutching his arm. The trio rushed to greet him, only for Blaine to collapse on one of the chairs to catch his breath.

"Why, it's been a whole week," Elm said, flustered and wringing his hands nervously. "Blaine, how have you – I mean, what have you-"

"Mewtwo," Blaine said between labored breaths. "We managed to catch it. Me and Kris."

"That's awesome!" Iris cheered. "That means your work is finally done!"

But Blaine didn't rejoice or look like a man who had finally come to terms with his past. He just shook his head sadly.

"We thought Mewtwo had been calmed," Blaine said. "We thought we were ready to send it as far as possible and allow it to live free. But we were wrong. It's back in Johto, and it's on the move."

Iris, Leaf and Elm looked at each other while Blaine just sat, rubbing his forehead anxiously.

"Why couldn't I call Morty?" Leaf asked. "He's one of the strongest trainers in Johto, surely he can-"

"I don't want the LPS to get involved," Blaine said curtly. "And they have their hands full, anyway. There's Suicune, the Masked Man, the Silver Conference, et cetera. And since the Master Ball is gone, we have to go there in force. No time to waste!"

"Go where?" Iris asked.

"Blackthorn City," Blaine grunted. "I know it's there. Don't ask me how."

The other three stared at the out-of-breath scientist, wanting to ask so many things from him and catch up, but Blaine's tone of voice clearly indicated he had no time for chit-chat. Iris and Elm both looked worried, Elm clearly unsure on what to do or say, but Leaf grabbed her bag from one of the desks and put her hat on.

"I'll go get the van fired up," she just said. "We'll leave once you catch your breath. If anyone else wants to come, bring the material on the Mask with you."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Route 44, Johto** _

_**Sunday, 1:46 PM** _

Route 44 was a straightforward, if mostly uphill route where Kris started to feel the high altitude, having lived in plain, flat old New Bark Town most of her life. Still, what bothered her far more was the fact that her Feraligatr was still a big ol' prat. It used the wrong attacks when given commands, it occasionally just stopped fighting to scratch itself or take a snooze and it generally acted like Kris wasn't even there. Kris was relieved that it didn't just take and run away.

But the question was why? Sure, Kris was a little harsh on it when it was a Totodile, but her patience ran really thin with it behavior. Ever since evolving to a Croconaw, it had obeyed Kris fully, fought with almost insane enthusiasm and had been rewarded and praised by Kris every time. Kris treated it just as well as her other Pokémon, who all fought well and seemed to be happy to do so. Did Croc expect special treatment now that it was a Feraligatr? Obviously Kris fed it more than the others due to sheer its bulk, but she wasn't going to start buying some special food just for it – not with her budget.

Especially after her fifth loss in a row due to Croc's behavior, this one to bird keeper Vance, another trainer en route to the Silver Conference. Still, the bird keeper was helpful enough to tell Kris how to get to Blackthorn City: walking through an incredibly cold and dangerous cave encased entirely in ice that people and Pokémon may or may not have disappeared completely in.

"Huh," Kris said. "Seems legit."

But before that excursion, Kris took a break on the shore of one of the calm, clean ponds, letting all her Pokémon besides Croc out for some lunch and trying to figure out if she should go back in Mahogany Town to buy a winter jacket or just rush forward and hope for the best. It was the middle of summer, how cold could this 'Ice Path' be, anyway?

Kris quickly forgot what she was thinking as something suddenly emerged from the pond, making a huge splash that almost extinguished Chandelure. Shew, Honchkrow and Shuckie quickly gathered around Kris and watched as a tall man in a black uniform with a reed in his mouth that he quickly spit away. Despite being soaking wet and presumably cold, the man managed a boisterous, melodramatic laughter.

"Finally!" Missile eventually said after he had no more laughter in him. "I knew you'd have to come through here, and I've waited in this pond for _hours_ just to find you! Now I know what you're thinking – 'but won't that give you hypothermia or something?' - to which I answer... I sure hope not. Anyway, you know what I want."

"Actually, no," Kris said. "Your motivations are _really_ all over the place."

"Hmph," Missile scoffed. "Well aren't we stalwart today!"

"...I don't know what that means."

"It means – look, just listen!" Missile said impatiently. "During our first encounter at the Ruins of Alph, you were scared out of your mind, and that was when you had that short one who's practically half hair with you. Now you're all alone-"

"With my team of Pokémon," Kris reminded.

"With your team of Pokémon," Missile amended, "but still without the company of other people – you know what, this isn't going anywhere. We're just not on the same frequency, you know?"

"Oh, I know," Kris said warily. "Just tell me what you want!"

"That expensive Poké Ball you've been hefting around ever since you left Azalea Town," Missile said. "I keep a cheek to the ground, and Neo Team Rocket has been _highly_ interested in it. And I know what you're thinking – 'Missile, you hypocrite, is this a Team Rocket thing'-"

"I seriously wasn't thinking that," Kris deadpanned.

"-and the answer is a resounding 'no'. I serve no master but myself now. Now hand me the GS Ball and I'll be out of your hair for good!

"...really?" Kris asked and checked her bag. "Well, that is seriously tempting... but since so many people are interested in this for some reason, I think I'm going to keep it for just a little while longer."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Missile grinned. "Victreebel, go!"

Missile sent out his Pokémon, which looked more powerful than before. Still, it was little match to Kris. Ordering Honchkrow to use Wing Attack, Shrew to use Rock Tomb and Shuckie to use Rock Slide, Victreebel was quickly hurt before it could make a move, though miraculously, it still wasn't knocked out. Having apparently recovered from the water, Chandelure floated next to Kris.

"Ah, you're back," Kris told it casually. "You mind using your Flamethrower at that Pokémon so we can get this over with?"

Chandelure turned to face Victreebel – then suddenly used its telekinesis to yank Kris' bag away from her. Before Kris even noticed, Chandeure had floated over to Missile and dropped the bag to him. A bit later, and the Chandelure morphed into a Ditto, while Kris' real Chandelure only now recovered from getting drenched.

"Oh, you ass!" Kris growled

"Deal with it," Missile said and carelessly opened Kris' bag. "Thank you very much, Ditto – you'll be celebrating at the Pokémon Daycare tonight! Hey, wow, you got some neat stuff in here. There's a little telescope with a mouse in it! Oh, and what's this... ooh, crystally."

"Don't you dare take that!" Kris yelled. "Honchkrow, get over there and-"

"Ah-ah!" Missile warned and held the bag precariously over the pond. "One misstep and I'll chuck all your expensive things into this deep, muddy puddle. Now, you seem like a reasonable person, so I'll just take the GS Ball and give you the bag back – or you can try to take it, and we both lose it forever. You have until the count of three to decide. One-"

"Two!"

A Pidgeot suddenly swooped down and the person riding it snatched the bag from Missile, who just looked at his empty hand for a second in confusion before glaring at the Pidgeot who flew in circles above him and Kris. Whatever anger Kris felt towards Missile was soon eclipsed by the burning, vein-popping, teeth-grinding hatred she felt for the man on the Pidgeot's back: Wes.

"Pidgeot, Whirlwind!" Wes ordered.

Pidgeot leaned backwards and started flapping its wings rapidly, almost at hummingbird speed, creating a strong gust of wind that tossed Missile, Ditto and Victreebel into the pond. Missile was fortunately quick to recall his Pokémon, and quickly swam away, disappearing into the reeds while announcing his return. Kris didn't want to bother chasing after him – all she wanted was her bag back.

"And three!" Wes said smugly. "Hey there!" he called out from above. "Sorry to step in like that – I knew you could have taken him on yourself, but-"

"You're damn right I could have!" Kris yelled. "And the only reason I'm not shooting you down is because I don't want to hurt your stupid bird, but that might change if you don't get down here and give me my stuff back!"

Wes shrugged and landed gracefully, returning Pidgeot to its ball without even looking as he handed Kris' bag to its owner.

"A little 'you're welcome' would be in order, though," Wes commented. "I mean I did just prevent him from stealing-"

Kris snatched the bag from Wes and immediately checked its contents. Everything was still there, including the little ball of newspaper with the GS Ball inside. The Clear Bell had also stayed intact – Kris had plans to show it to either Morty or Lance at some point. But at the moment, she wanted to give some choice words to Wes before he inevitably disappeared again. Shrew seemed to think the same, once again extending its claws at the sight of Wes, who was wise to keep his distance.

"Do you have any idea what you've done to me?!" Kris snapped at Wes, who just crossed his arms pensively. "Just talking to you almost disqualified me from these trials! Since everyone and their mom is apparently keeping tabs on me now, you showing up can only mean bad things for me."

"You know what?" Wes asked haughtily. "This hasn't been exactly a fun ride for me either. I was going to wait until later to tell you, but I have been ordered to make sure you succeed. I'm not doing this for fun."

"By whom, the LPS?" Kris wondered.

"Please, those guys are real tightasses about rules," Wes snorted. "And for whatever reason, they want you to survive on your own. Which reminds me, I'm about to break that rule – here."

Wes grabbed something from his own bag: a blue winter jacket with a matching scarf and gloves that he carelessly tossed at Kris, who barely caught them. Kris wanted to ask many questions, but Wes beat her to it.

"You can take 'em or leave 'em, I don't really care," he said. "But going through the Ice Path without proper gear is stupidity, and I don't think that's part of a Pokémon Master's steady diet."

"These are really nice," Kris admitted as she inspected the jacket. "I particularly love this soft fur on the hood."

"I know, right?" Wes said. "I saw it in a little shop in Mahogany Town and I just adored it! Would have bought one for myself had the budget allowed it. Anyway, good luck getting through that Ice Path-"

"Wait!" Kris snapped, remembering that she was supposed to be pissed. "I'm not gonna say no to free clothes, but what the hell?! You still didn't answer _why_ you're doing this!"

"Hell, everyone is watching everyone these days," Wes commented. "T's whatcha get for trading your freedom for safety, I guess."

"I was expecting a non-BS answer," Kris said.

Wes sighed. "And I was expecting this to be a little less frustrating. If I hadn't made a promise - well, you know I would be chilling on some quiet beach in Hoenn and not giving a crap about you or your little quest."

Kris rolled her eyes, but stopped asking. It was obvious he wasn't going to tell – even though Kris also got the sense that he wasn't happy to keep quiet about it either. She noticed Shrew looked like he was about to leap and tear Wes' jugular off, and Wes still stayed a few yards away from Kris and occasionally gave a wary glimpse in Shrew's direction.

"Can you at least tell me something else?" Kris asked. "I can't ask Sandshrew for obvious reasons, but... what exactly happened on Navel Rock. I know you were there and I know Shrew was there. What exactly went down?"

Wes sighed and turned to look at the pond, an odd, glazed look in his eyes. Kris wasn't fooled by this theatrical thousand-yard-stare, though – believing that this guy had actual feelings was a little too much of a leap.

"It was the very first thing this _Neo_ Team Rocket did once they got together under their new ruler," Wes explained. "It was handled mostly by this ex-employee of Silph who joined Team Rocket but whose name remained untarnished even post-takeover, so he was able to infiltrate Navel Rock and use their teleport to get a whole bunch of Rockets inside."

"Yeah, and I know who their new ruler is," Kris said triumphantly. "It's the M-"

"Masked Man, or Mask of Ice, I know," Wes said as he turned to look at Kris again.

"Oh. Well, then, go on."

"The Mask organized the thing to get his hands on the 'Griseous Orb'," Wes explained. "You don't have to know the specifics – it's gone now. But he was willing to kill everyone in his way to get it. And the real sad part is that he's still only the second most evil bastard to try to get his hands on it."

"Oh?"

"I've been able to piece this together since the incident," Wes explained. "The Navel Rock Research facility was, on its surface, an independent branch of Silph where they basically researched and manufactured medicine for Pokémon. Of course, in reality, all kinds of covert stuff went down underneath. Pokémon experiments, teleportation and something even I still don't know about. Obviously, the powers that be had a pretty big stake on the facility and didn't want Team Rocket to get their hands on the research, especially the Griseous Orb, which was their most important project. That's why someone had to be sent over there to secure the situation."

"Enter you?" Kris asked skeptically.

"Yeah, right," Wes said. "I'm not some Growlithe who rolls over just because the Pokémon Association tells me to. No, they had their own people to do it. For reasons I didn't understand at the time, they chose their most inexperienced, fresh-faced adorable young bumpkins to do the job, though. They offered me a huge amount of money, and _that's_ when I agreed to go along and support the unit."

"What happened?"

Wes turned to look at the pond again, this time with no sign of his formerly arrogant composure.

"People and Pokémon died," Wes said curtly. "A lot of people and Pokémon. That goes for most of Team Rocket as well – turns out they weren't the worst part, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you, and I honestly don't want to talk about it."

"Sorry," Kris mumbled. "I mean, I can understand why you don't want to talk about this-"

"I don't, but people should really know," Wes continued. "It was a setup. All they cared about was the Griseous Orb. Not the hostages down there and certainly not us who were sent down there. Some privileged, rich, young momma's boy in a fancy suit had calculated it just right. No one was supposed to survive. Apart from a few of Team Rocket's goons, only myself, two other people and your Sandshrew made it. Officially, anyway."

"You don't want to, um..." Kris said delicately. "I mean, if I were you, I'd want to seek out the guy who screwed you over."

"And I will," Wes said firmly. "But _after_ this is done. I made a promise, and I keep 'em."

Wes sighed, but turned to look at Kris again, hands in his coat pockets and an obnoxious smile on his face.

"Yup, made it through that hell with just a few scrapes," he said, and Kris lost all sympathy she may have had before. "As bad as it may have been, I really think I changed as a person – for the better, y'know?"

"Yeah, sure," Kris grumbled. "Makes me wonder what kind of douche you were before all that."

"What can I say?" Wes said as he spread his arms. "I've always been bad."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Pokémon HQ Laboratory, Orre** _

_**Four years earlier** _

"Ow!" Wes complained. "Easy with that comb – mind the knots!"

16-year old Wes was sitting down and reading a comic book, allowing his younger sister Jovi to experiment with his hair to practice for her future career as a famous hair stylist _and_ a world-renowned Pokémon researcher, like her father and mother, respectively. Wes didn't have the heart to tell her that it was going to be pretty hard to be those things at the same time – but then again, who knew? She was only 12 and really good at both doing people's hair and memorizing Pokémon biology.

It was late evening, and with their mother Lily late at work, Wes and Jovi stayed in one of the apartments reserved for the lab's staff, preparing to cook Lily a hearty meal for when she returned from her shift.

"I want you to make me look as pretty as possible," Wes said. "But can you do it without ripping my head apart?"

"Stop whining, you look great!" Jovi told him cheerfully. "Though how'd you feel about going completely blonde? You'd fit in with the desert sand and all."

"Yeah, but I don't want people to make 'dumb blonde' jokes," Wes grumbled. "Red would be nice, though."

"Which guy or gal do you want to impress anyway?" Jovi wondered as she brushed through Wes' hair, wondering if it looked better long or if she should cut it short.

"I'm appalled!" Wes said in faux shock. "Can't I just look good for me and myself alone?"

Before Jovi could respond, there was crackling over the lab's intercom, and the tinny sound of the lab's security detail blared in every room:

" _Attention, personnel: we have visitors. They're asking for the son of Dr. Lily Marston. Please report at the front gate_."

Wes hoped they didn't have to announce that to everyone – but what's worse, Wes already had an inkling on who they were, and had explicitly told them not to come in person. Wes left Jovi to her work and, with his hair still dolled up and makeup on, he marched over to the front gate, the security guard pointing out who was visiting.

There were three visitors, two of whom Wes was expecting, the last one's face covered by a hood. The other two were both taller and more slender than Wes, the first one having wiry, serpentine gray hair and the other one recognized from miles away by his garish glasses, leisure suit and a huge Poké Ball -colored afro.

"Hey, Wesleyyy!" called the man in the afro, Miror B – Wes could swear he heard dance music playing in the distance. "Hey, come over here!"

"Um, what's going on, guys?" Wes asked carefully, being particularly wary of Nascour. "I though we agreed-"

"Yeah, yeah, plans changed," Nascour said dismissively. "You said you wanted that job right? To play with the older guys?"

"Wesley, darling, there's talk of a new guy in Orre and he draws a _loooooot_ of water in here," Miror B. said. "All the mercs are lining up to meet him, but he must have been drawn to my un- _fathomable_ levels of swag, 'cause he explicitly asked for the four of us."

"Us four, yeah," Wes muttered. "Who's that?" He pointed at the cloaked one.

The fourth person under a cloak pulled her hood off, revealing herself to be a teenaged girl, around Wes' age or maybe a year or two older, with red pigtailed hair. She smiled at Wes, who just nodded at her quickly before turning to look at Miror B.

"Her name is Rui," Nascour said and grabbed Wes by his shoulder, forcing Wes to face him. "She's gonna be working as you partner, as we're gonna do this in teams of two."

"Do what?" Wes wondered. "And I don't need a partner, guys, I thought it was just gonna be us three-"

"Oh, you wish," Miror B. laughed campily. "Me and Nascour have to handle the logistic side of things."

"Yeah," Nascour continued, forcing Wes to keep turning around, "and after it's done and our new client, Mr. Verich, gets his due, we'll split the money... 60-40."

"75-25, he means," Miror B. said.

"70-30, yeah, just like we agreed last time," Nascour clarified. "Besides, what we're about to tell you to do is impossible without her. She's got... well, like any enterprising and proactive Orrean with a skill, she decided to put it to good use. That's all you need to know for now."

"Fine," Wes said. "But you guys promised me, didn't you? You said I wouldn't get in any trouble here."

"Hah, he's so _adorable_ ," Miror B. said with his arm on Wes' shoulders. "Afraid his mom will find him with his hands in the cookie jar!"

"Relax, Wesley," Nascour said.

"I told you, just call me Wes."

"Whatever, Wesley. The job is this: apparently there have been some concentrations of wild Pokémon near the edges of the desert."

Wes raised his eyebrows. "Wha – wild ones in Orre? Not escaped ones?"

"They could be descendants of escaped ones, but either way, they're spreading fast," Nascour said. "Naturally people will be interested soon, and Mr. Verich is very keen on finding out how they can survive all the way out here. Problem is, it's a big desert, and they see humans coming before we can see them. That's why you'll help Rui."

"Meet us at Gateon Port tomorrow," Miror B. said. "We're going to hit the Krabby Club now – wanna come along?"

"Uh... yeah, sure, just gonna go grab some stuff," Wes said hastily. "Hey, you guys like what Jovi did to my hair?"

"Pfft, man, call us when you have one of _these_ ," Miror B. said and stroked his afro before he, Nascour and Rui shuffled off, Rui glancing at Wes quietly before putting her hood back on.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Ice Path, Johto** _

_**Present day** _

Wes had helpfully pointed Kris to the Ice Path and unhelpfully told her that he wouldn't be tagging along, mumbling something about hating the cold. As she entered the Ice Path, she had stubbornly insisted on not wearing the clothes Wes had given her. About one minute and seven seconds later, Kris had quickly put the jacket, scarf and gloves on.

Even though it was summer and Johto was geographically unable to get harsh winters, the Ice Path's temperature never went above twenty degrees. The place itself was a complex tunnel connecting Route 44 to Blackthorn City, the only other way around being to go up and down the mountain in between, and there you were likely to be hit by a truck. The tunnel was almost entirely encased in snow and ice except for most of the ground, fortunately enough, but even then Kris still had to practically crawl over the occasional extremely slippery segment. Fortunately her Chandelure was next to her, giving the place light and some warmth.

Even as she walked deeper into the tunnel and getting increasingly colder, Kris had to admit: the place was beautiful. The ice was clear and unpolluted and there were clusters of practically crystal-like ice all over the place, Chandelure's flames reflecting off them nicely and making the place even less dark.

But as Kris reached what she believed to be the lowest floor of the tunnel, she started to notice something odd. The ubiquitous Zubat and Golbat were flying directly away from where she was going and the temperature dropped sharply, below fifteen degrees Fahrenheit according to Kris' PokéGear.

Then, a booming, distorted voice that sent chills down Kris' spine echoed all over the cave:

" _I knew you'd have to come through here eventually! Now that we're on_ my _domain, we fight by_ my _rules._ _Rule number one: fire? Not allowed._ "

Kris barely caught glimpse of a cloaked figure with long white hair standing on the other side of a deep chasm before it summoned a harsh breeze, almost blowing out Chandelure's candles and distracting it long enough for an Abomasnow to suddenly burst through a wall and knock the ghost-type out. Kris recalled it in panic and tried to run away.

" _Rule number two_ ," the Masked Man continued as Kris ran towards the exit. " _No one leaves before_ _I get what I want_."

The Masked Man fired an Ice Beam at the exit, freezing and sealing it completely just as Kris was about to reach it. Instead, she grabbed one of her Poké Balls at random, not caring what it was, just throwing it as hard as she could.

It turned out to be Shrew.

 _Maybe I should have paid a little more attention_.

"Shrew!" Kris yelled. "We can't fight this guy! You'll have to try to dig a tunnel to get out of-"

The Mask of Ice launched a yet another Ice Beam, this one aimed directly at Shrew, who only managed a pained squeak as it was suddenly encased entirely in a block of ice.

Kris lost all reason and attempts to be tactical. She rushed at her Sandshrew, attempting to grab it and pull it to safety, but the Masked Man jumped over the chasm and gracefully landed next to Kris, who fell down on the snowy ground out of sheer terror, the face on the Man's mask grinning at her as always.

" _Hi_ ," the Masked Man said. " _You mind if I borrow your bag? It matches the rest of my ensemble._ "

The Mask yanked Kris' bag away, briefly touching Kris' exposed wrist with his claw-like hand, giving Kris a sensation so cold that she almost yelled out loud, having to cradle her hand as the Masked Man rummaged through her bag – people were doing it a lot recently.

Soon enough, he found what he was looking for: a Poké Ball wrapped in newspapers. Tearing the paper away, the Masked Man held the gold- and silver-plated Poké Ball in his hands as if it was a living being he worshiped. Kris watched as he used a hand-held device to scan the GS Ball, laughing maniacally all the while.

" _Yes, at last_! _With the power of the GS Ball, I can finally – wait_."

The Mask's scanner made a protesting beep and the small lamp on it blinked red. As the Mask held the ball in his shaking hands, he suddenly tightened his grip and squeezed the Poké Ball, easily splitting in two even though all attempts by Kris to open the ball had failed. What's worse, he dropped two halves of a regular Poké Ball that had simply been painted gold and silver.

" _No_ ," the Masked Man said quietly. " _No, this cannot – YOU!_ " he snapped at Kris. " _You tricked me! Where's the real GS Ball?! Where did you hide it?"_

"I d-don't," Kris said, her lips trembling from the cold as the Masked Man grabbed her jacket and pulled her closer. "I-I d-didn't..."

" _Actually, you know what? I believe you. See, when I have people in my grip like this, they tell me everything I want to know. You really don't know anything, and with that, all the flimsiest of reasons to keep you alive are gone._ "

The Masked Man raised his hand, ready to blast Kris' head with an Ice Beam or a similar attack. Kris closed her eyes and tried to turn away, but her entire body was just too cold for her to try and flee.

"Excuse me," a male voice suddenly said.

The Masked Man paused, and before he could move, a Dewgong suddenly slapped him right in the chest with its tail. The Mask let go of Kris, but before he could launch a counterattack, Dewgong used Body Slam against him, knocking him to the ground. Finally, with another slap of its tail, the Man's mask was knocked away.

Without the mask, the man morphed, shrinking in size as the hair and cloak turned into clouds of white and black smoke before evaporating, only a smaller man tangled in a much smaller cloak remaining.

"Thank you, Dewgong," said the ice-type's trainer, Pryce, who casually recalled the Pokémon and limped over to Kris, having come the same way Kris had.

Sparing a brief glance at the now-helpless former Mask of Ice, Pryce offered Kris his hand and pulled her up. He didn't say anything and his expression remained the same as he inspected Kris' face before pulling out a spray bottle from his pocket and spraying Kris' wrist with it. He then offered Kris a large, yellow berry, holding it close to her mouth. Her hands still shaking, Kris took a bite of the berry, barely managing to get through its hard peel and not at all enjoying the sour taste.

It seemed to work, though. She wasn't trembling nearly as badly and her hand regained feeling. Pryce then walked over to Shrew and used the remnants of the spray bottle on it, allowing Shrew to thaw out. Finally, he gave Shrew a similar berry, though considering the Pokémon's barely conscious condition, he had to force it into its mouth.

"I suggest you recall him," Pryce said. "He should be okay, but you still need to get him checked up at a Pokémon center as soon as possible."

Kris nodded and obeyed, returning the shivering Sandshrew to its ball. She was still shaking a bit herself, but not because of the cold. How many close calls had she gone through already? And unlike at the Radio Tower, she was all too sure no one would come to her aid.

"T-thank you," Kris told Pryce as she folded her arms under her armpits. "That was... how did you know?"

"I didn't," Pryce said dryly. "But I come here many times a week, and I just finished a training session with some promising rookies at Route 44. I noticed the Pokémon were behaving strangely, so I came down here to investigate."

"I can't believe it," Kris said hoarsely. "It turns out he was so easy to bring down... Pryce, this is the man who-"

"Attacked Ecruteak City, I'm assuming," Pryce muttered as he looked at the man who moved around weakly but didn't show signs of attempting to get up. "The Masked Man, the Mask of Ice – so the legends are true. I've heard of a mask that gives its holder superhuman powers, but I didn't believe in such things."

"The mask!" Kris snapped. "Where did it go?!"

Kris and Pryce looked around them, but there was no sight of the mask anywhere. Pryce walked over to the edge of the crevice the Masked Man had leaped over and looked down.

"It could have fallen down there," Pryce said. "I'm certain that few would attempt to fetch it that deep even if they did know of it – and that's assuming it wasn't shattered by the impact."

"You saved my life, Pryce," Kris said awkwardly – she was already in debt to many people, and now this. "Not to mention that help you gave me at Violet City. You-"

Pryce raised his hand modestly.

"You'd have done the same to me – though I don't know how long I would have survived against such an onslaught," Pryce said and smiled dryly.

Noticing the ex-Mask was moving around even more and attempting to get out from under the cloak, Pryce pointed at him with his cane.

"What do you say we solve this mystery for good?" Pryce said. "I'm sure you'd like the honor of unmasking him – well, in a metaphoric sense now, but still."

Kris nodded. If it was really true that he was the mastermind behind Neo Team Rocket, he had a lot to answer for. The Slowpoke Well, the forced evolutions, the Goldenrod City takeover – but most importantly, Kris was reminded of all those people who died at Navel Rock. Even if Kris couldn't name any of them and hadn't been present for it, Wes' description of the incident was vivid enough. And, if it was indeed true that he was behind it, Kris was sure Shrew had a score to settle as well.

Slowly walking over the man, Kris used her foot to roughly turn the man on his back, then knelt and grabbed the cloak that was covering his face. She glanced at Pryce, who nodded encouragingly, finally prompting Kris to pull the cloak off.


	15. The Dragon Clan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time has come for the last test, which will decide, if Kris can compete in the tournament of her dreams or not.

**Chapter Fifteen: _The Dragon Clan_**

_**Location: Ice Path, Johto** _

"This must be a joke."

Kris had pulled away the black cloak covering the face of the man who had attacked her, the man who had reigned terror over Johto, who could control an abnormally powerful Pokémon without even a Poké Ball and who it took five members of the Legendary Pokémon Society and a Suicune to beat the first time.

It was Dr. Gideon, hair messed up, glasses crooked and a frustrated grimace on his face. Kris just stared at him as he struggled against the cloak that still was wrapped around most of his body.

"You," Kris said flatly. "You were behind that mask the whole time?"

"Yes!" Gideon shouted and tried to put on a smug, evil smirk. "And I would have gotten away if it too, if it wasn't – ow, damn it! Last time I try to look flashy."

"It's also the last time you'll be seeing the great outdoors again, Gideon," Kris said icily. "After what you've done, I doubt the authorities will be too easy on you."

"I just wonder," Gideon said ominously.

Kris didn't fall for it, though. He was beaten, unable to get up. Pryce knelt closer to him, pulled the cloak off him a little and grabbed a Poké Ball from his pocket, leaving Gideon completely disarmed.

"I still have trouble believing you could have pulled this off," Kris said as she shook her head.

"Wha – why not?!" Gideon snapped, offended and stopped struggling. " _I_ was the one who came up with Neo Team Rocket's greatest scheme, _I_ was the one who knew Giovanni personally and it was thanks to _me_ that we managed to infiltrate Navel Ro – ah, you don't know what I'm talking about anyway."

"I do, actually," Kris said shakily. "I know what you did to the people there – I don't care if it was your flunkies who did the dirty work, you planned that thing and put it in motion."

Gideon was mockingly mouthing what Kris said until Kris slapped him across the face.

"Ow!" he wailed. "Okay, so it wasn't the nicest thing to do – but what did I do to you personally?"

"You almost killed me just a minute ago!" Kris said. "For the second time! And it's because of you that my Sandshrew has been traumatized for life!"

"Well I can't take credit of _that_ ," Gideon scoffed. "But everything the Masked Man has done, I take credit for, honestly, it was me. I did it – me all along. Me, I tell you!"

"Yeah, I know," Kris said. "Get over it."

Gideon looked away from Kris, just noticing that Pryce was present, quietly leaning on his cane and looking at Gideon.

"Hey, old man!" Gideon pleaded. "I'll give you half of the money we have stashed away if you knock her out and give me my Pokémon back! What do you say? No? How about 45%?"

Pryce didn't budge, making Gideon even more angry and causing more pointless struggling, which was interrupted when a powerful flamethrower attack suddenly melted the ice blocking the Ice Path's entrance, allowing four officers of the Blackthorn City Police Department accompanied by Detective Looker and his deerstalker-wearing Croagunk to burst in.

"It's all right," Pryce told them. "It's under control, but it's good of you to come and pick up the package."

"I didn't know you had called them," Kris said.

"You didn't expect me to just rush into danger unprepared, did you?" Pryce asked calmly. "And this detective of the International Police was close by – he left me his contact information and told me to report anything suspicious that may be related to the Mask of Ice incident."

"The fiend has been, finally, apprehended," Looker said and watched as two police officers lifted Gideon and started dragging him away. "Where your bravado lies at the moment, Mr. Ice of Mask?"

"Looker!" Kris yelled.

" _Detective_ Looker, I ask you, please," Looker said. "Your assistance is appreciated, mysterious stranger – as be yours, Mr. gym leader Pryce! I can vision the heads of lines in my brain – ' _Looker of International Police stops superfiend!'_ "

Kris opened her mouth, trying to come up with some insults to throw Looker's way or at least demands to give her some credit, but the more Kris thought about it, she hadn't done much. In fact, this was probably the fourth time that week when someone had come to her aid at the nick of time and did everything – when it came down to it, what had she accomplished, anyway?

Deciding to feel sorry for herself later, Kris followed the police and Pryce outside, sighing in relief as she stepped into the sunlight. The group walked down a hill to two waiting police cars, Blackthorn City in full sight further down the hill, surrounded by more hills and mountains as far as Kris could see.

"Wait!" Kris yelled as Gideon was being forced to the backseat of a police car. "There's something I want to ask – if you were the Masked Man all along, why didn't you take the GS Ball from me at the Whirl Islands?"

"Fool!" Gideon spat. "I was under Wallace's nose and wanted by the authorities. I had to wait for the opportune moment to escape the Whirl Islands, knowing that I would have to ambush you in Ecruteak City. Who knew you were so disgustingly lucky."

"Yeah, whatever," Kris said, having heard too many clichéd villain rants that week. "Enjoy prison! Maybe they'll give you a little Mr. Freeze cell of your own, huh?"

"Yes, I believe I will enjoy it," Gideon said, inexplicably still smiling. "You've certainly defeated me. Neo Team Rocket is finished, yes. You... hehe... don't have a care in the world!"

Gideon couldn't help himself anymore and burst into an insane fit of laughter, still continuing to laugh as the police cars drove away and towards Blackthorn City. Realizing she was sweating, Kris took off her winter gear and stared after the speeding cop cars for a long time. Gideon had been legitimately outraged when the GS Ball turned out to be fake – something Kris had an idea who to blame for – but now he was back to laughing like a man who _wasn't_ about to be given ten consecutive life sentences. The Navel Rock incident wasn't fully known to everyone, Kris realized that, but she also doubted the Pokémon Association would hold back when it came to the man who foiled... whatever those rich people in suits did with their time.

Either way, Kris could breathe easy now. The Masked Man's presence hadn't affected her too much, knowing that there were people after him, but no matter where Kris went, she still couldn't shake the increasing feeling of dread that she couldn't put her finger on. Now, finally, it was over.

"So, are you ready to tell me _why_ he attacked you?" Pryce asked finally, making Kris realize he was still there.

"Oh, right," Kris said. "Well, he – hang on! Back in Azalea Town, Kurt said that he got the GS Ball from... you."

Pryce nodded. "And I found it being delivered by a wounded Spearow," he said. "There was no address or name marked in the package, and after I nursed the Spearow back to health, it flew away without its package. I sent it to Kurt, as I know him and he knows more about that technology than anyone else."

"Oh," Kris said. "For a moment there I thought you were the one I was supposed to deliver it to. You don't know what it does, then?"

"I doubt anyone does," Pryce mused as he stared into the distance. "Aside from Gideon, that is. Maybe he'll testify in court, but I doubt it. I'm guessing he believes he can still get out and resume his search. I doubt anything good will come of him finding it."

"It was apparently made of wings taken from Ho-Oh and Lugia," Kris said, though she wondered if Gideon was being honest when she told him that. "Why would anyone go through all that trouble to make something like that?"

Pryce pondered the question for a while. "Well, it isn't unreasonable to think that Team Rocket would want a Poké Ball powerful enough to capture and contain an extremely powerful Pokémon – they were after the same thing three years ago, after all."

Kris nodded – it still didn't answer the big underlying question, though, and Pryce had noticed it.

"But the real question is, _what_ were they going to capture with it?" he asked quietly, before adjusting his scarf. "Well, in any case, it's gone now, as is that mask, fortunately enough. I should return to my gym. It's going to be a long hike through the Ice Path."

"Um... will you be okay?" Kris asked delicately – she didn't want to imagine Pryce falling down on his back.

"I have traveled through that cave hundreds of times," Pryce said, fortunately not taking offense, just stating the facts. "I'm always careful, believe me."

"Well, then, um... thanks!" Kris said, and for once, made the first move and offered a handshake. "Really, thanks a lot! If I make it to the Silver Conference, will you come watch me?"

"I doubt you'll have trouble noticing me," Pryce said and shook Kris' hand. "Good luck!"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Blackthorn City, Johto** _

Though Blackthorn City was the fifth largest city in Johto, it didn't really feel like it due to the low number of cars, the abundant trees and grass and the large amount of old-fashioned wooden houses. The air was clean and the weather was pleasantly cool and only mildly windy.

The only thing that reminded Kris of the busier cities were the people, who seemed to be in a constant hurry just like the citizens of Goldenrod, except these one felt even more stuck up, as Kris noticed while staying in line at the Pokémon Center. Her first nasty surprise came when the nurse told her that Shrew would have to spend the rest of the afternoon there to rest, but as Kris as about to flip her lid, the nurse explained that they needed to inspect for any frostbites or other damage caused by the cold. Seeing as Sandshrew were used to arid places, Kris understood that it was affected more.

As much as Kris wanted to do some shopping, especially since Goldenrod City's Department Store was unavailable when Kris last visited, she grudgingly agreed to complete her trials first and headed over to the Dragon's Den – only to find unexpected roadblocks.

"What do you mean I can't go in?!" Kris yelled at the man blocking access to the cave.

"Tourist, eh?" the man remarked, then started to explain patiently: "The Dragon's Den is a sacred place. Only members of the dragon clan or those approved by them can come in."

"Hey, I'm damn approved!" Kris argued. "Didn't the Wise Trio say I was gonna come? Kris, from New Bark Town. With a 'K'," she added.

"Not on the list," the man said immediately.

"You didn't look at any list," Kris said. "Look, I don't care about your traditions. For once, make an exception, or me and my Pokémon are gonna plow through anyway!"

The man just snickered. "Oh-ho-ho, oh wow, we certainly haven't heard that one before. I mean, you're free to try - oh, did you catch that, ma'am?"

"Indeed I did," said a harsh female voice from behind Kris. "Are we having a problem here?"

Kris turned around and looked up at a tall, blue-haired woman. Her face, her demeanor and her dramatically swinging black cape reminded Kris of someone else, though she instantly recognized who she was: Clair, the strongest gym leader in Johto. Her skills were practically legendary, though Kris had never seen her battle on TV – she rarely made public appearances.

"Oh, it's another tourist," Clair said condescendingly. "You people and your entitlement – you think you can just waltz in here and spit on our most ancient traditions?"

"Well, um, no," Kris mumbled and looked at her feet. "I was just going to-"

"She said the Wise Trio sent her," the man blocking the cave's entrance said skeptically. "Said her name was 'Reese'."

"Kris."

"Ah, yes," Clair said and put her hands on her hips, observing Kris. "I was told the latest addition to our series of wannabes was about to arrive. I should probably congratulate you – few make it this far."

"Oh, well, th-"

"But here's where your road ends, I'm afraid!" Clair said. "The only ones deemed good enough to enter the Dragon's Den outside our clan are the ones who can get past _me_!"

"I see," Kris said.

For a moment, there was just silence. Clair just stood there, smiling arrogantly, the man blocking the path seemed awkward and Kris was just confused, until she realized she should probably say something:

"Well, can we bat-"

"I don't see why not, this is hardly worth the time for a trip back to the gym, anyway," Clair said in a bored tone. "I'll just cream you now using one Poké Ball and head to the den like I was supposed to."

"Y-you'll do what?" Kris wondered in disgust.

Clair sighed. "Defeat you in battle!" she snapped. "Prepare yourself!"

Kris wasn't prepared and clumsily stepped backwards when Clair tossed a Poké Ball in the air – a Kingdra came out and hopped into the pond right next to the den's entrance. Kris tried to come up with a strategy – she knew Clair used dragon-types, which ruled out Chandelure, and while Croc had ice-type attacks, there was no way Kris would risk using it now. All that was left was Honchkrow, whose power wasn't quite on the same level as the other two, but her options were low.

"Honchkrow, go!"

"An aerial attack, huh?" Clair observed. "Pointless – Kingdra, dive and use Agility!"

Kingra submerged, while Honchkrow tried to keep track of it by staring intensely at the pond, though Kris could tell Kingdra was moving at an incredible speed.

"Now Twister!" Clair ordered.

Kingdra emerged from the pond faster than Kris could call out an attack and started to move in circles at a rapid speed, creating a small tornado that Honchkrow couldn't avoid and was struck by – it only grazed Honchkrow, though.

"Come on, give me your best counterattack!" Clair gloated. "I'll make this easy for you – I can't fight without giving myself at least a _little_ challenge."

"Honchkrow, Night Slash!" Kris ordered.

"Smokescreen," Clair said lazily.

Even though Honchkrow was faster, Kingdra's reactions were at their peak, and it managed to blind Honchkrow with a blob of dark purple ink.

"Finish it with a Hydro Pump," Clair said, almost yawning.

Shooting water from its mouth at intense pressure, Kingdra knocked Honchkrow away, letting it hit the rocky wall of the Dragon's Den. Clair just laughed and praised her Pokémon, while Kris sadly returned Honchkrow, deciding to go to the Pokémon Center immediately after this. She wasn't even too sorry about losing – she'd just have to find another way in.

"You don't think that was going a little overboard?" Kris said.

"All's fair in an open war," Clair said and took off her glove to inspect her nails. "Well, then, let's see your other one."

"My what?"

"I have an idea, you see," Clair said. "I told you I'd only use one Poké Ball – but you can use, oh, let's say, three."

"For real? But-"

"This is not an official gym battle, after all – this merely dictates whether you get in there, and I'm bored. I need a good challenge, and when I beat your three Pokémon using only one of mine, then _no one_ will spread rumors about me going soft anymore!"

"What are you going on about?" Kris asked, slightly worried by the ever-crazier tone in Clair's voice. "I haven't spread any rum-"

"COME ON!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

It was a no-brainer this time. Chandelure and Shuckie were weak to water, while the Pokémon she was about to use wasn't – Kris just had to pray it wouldn't let her down.

"Croc, go!"

This time, Kris let her Feraligatr go directly into the pond, figuring out a nice swim would make it more compliant. Indeed, as soon as it got out, Croc started to splash around and dive, finally getting to be in its normal habitat. Clair just laughed again.

"Your Feraligatr is hardly what I'd call a disciplined warrior," she remarked.

_No, really?_

"Well, come on then," Clair said smugly. "Hit me with your best shot."

"Slash!" Kris ordered.

"Dragon Pulse," Clair said.

Croc didn't pay attention to what Kris told her, cheerfully frolicking in the water – that is until the ball of energy Kingdra had fired hit it right in the face. To its credit, it didn't seem to damage it too much, it just singed its face a little and made it very, _very_ angry.

"That's the spirit!" Kris praised. "Now how about a Sla-"

Croc didn't even stop to listen, but swam right at the Kingdra and hit it with a Slash attack, catching Kingdra off-guard with its speed. Even Clair seemed a bit more serious now.

"So you _do_ have some decent moves," she said. "Kingdra, Twister!"

"Stop it with Surf!" Kris said quickly.

Once again, Kingdra started to move in rapid circles – until Croc summoned up a large wave and let it crash directly on it. Though the damage was negligible, it interrupted the attack and angered both Kingdra and its trainer.

"Okay, enough with this kid's stuff!" Clair snapped. "Hyper Beam!"

"Protect!"

Gathering most of its energy in one big blast, Kingdra fired the destructive beam of energy at Croc – who crossed its arms and summoned up an invisible wall that deflected the attack away, letting it hit the Dragon's Den's wall instead.

"You can't do that!" Clair protested.

"Says who?" Kris countered. "It's tired now, Croc – Headbutt!"

But Croc didn't use headbutt. Instead, as it glared and growled at Kingdra, it surrounded its body with a pale blue aura and charged at the exhausted dragon-type. Before Croc hit Kingdra, it rocketed itself into the air and used itself as a projectile, hitting Kingdra with all its might, but visibly damaging itself in the process.

"Impossible!" Clair yelled. "Your Feraligatr knows Superpower?!"

"Uh... I guess," Kris shrugged – Kris didn't remember ever teaching it, though, nor had she ever seen or heard of such an attack.

"All right, I've been kind, but it's time to put this thing to bed!" Clair said. "Kingdra, Hydro Pump!"

"Counter it with your o-"

Once again, Croc didn't stop to listen, but instead used Headbutt. It soaked up all the water Kingdra was hitting it with before making its head collide with Kingdra's. For a moment, both Pokémon swayed around like drunkards before they both fainted out of exhaustion.

It became dead quiet. Her hands shaking, Clair recalled Kingdra, Kris slowly doing the same for Croc. Then, Kris just watched Clair, who stared in bafflement at her own Poké Ball.

"Um," Kris said meekly. "I'm not sure what happens now – did I win?"

Clair glared at Kris. "Of course you don't!" she snapped. "It was tie, can't you tell?! Both Pokémon fainted at the same time, you amateur!"

"Yeah, but, I still have one Pokémon left," Kris pointed out. "You said I could use three, right?"

Clair looked stunned. She glanced at the man blocking the gate, who nodded at her, making her even more enraged.

"Yes, but, you see," Clair started, barely holding back her anger. "This wasn't an official gym match, now wasn't it? So-"

"Come on, Clair," the man told her. "Even if an official judge would call it a tie, she still fought well, and besides, the stipulation was getting 'past' you, not defeating you. You lost the one Pokémon you said you'd battle with, so it looks simple to me."

"And besides," Kris said, "The rules say that if a gym leader accepts a challenge outside the gym, it still constitutes as a gym battle."

Clair clenched her fists. For a moment, it looked like she was going to lunge at Kris and punch her, but then the man blocking the way calmly stepped aside.

"Okay, I'm making the call, you can go in," he said. "And the Wise Trio did tell us to let you in, so I was just messing with you in the first place. Plus I wanted to see you fight against Clair."

Kris wanted to punch him now, but Clair stepped in.

"Yes, go in all you want," she said, looking almost insane. "But don't even think about getting the Rising Badge that easily!"

"I don't even want-"

"Unless you can complete the dragon master's challenge," Clair continued, "the badge will _never_ be yours. Excuse me."

With a swing of her cape, Clair was gone, presumably heading back to her gym. Kris turned to look at the man, who just shrugged, so Kris let go of her murderous impulses... for now.

"Is she gonna be okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," the man said. "You gotta understand, though – she doesn't lose very often."

"Yeah, that Kingdra was something else," Kris muttered.

"Well, she's trained it since it was a Horsea that she got as a starter," the man informed. "She's one of the most accomplished members of the clan. Though, as you heard, she did suffer a major loss just two days ago which led to some rumors. That trainer was something else, I have to say – she used a Typhlosion against her Kingdra and still won! Of course, she probably would have failed if Clair would have stopped taking it easy on her."

"Who was it?" Kris asked suspiciously.

"Uhh... can't remember the name, sorry," the man said with a shrug. "She did visit the Den, but only briefly. I do remember her clothes, though. She looked like an Italian plumber or something, you know?"

"Goddammit," Kris grumbled.

"But apart from that," the man continued, "I don't think she's lost a battle since the one she had with master Lance a few months ago."

"She knows Lance?" Kris asked.

"They're cousins. Though don't mention him to her, unless you want to hear a rant about how everyone always talks about him and how she could beat him with just a thought if she wanted to."

Now that Kris thought about it, there _was_ a resemblance. Though there no was no question which one carried themselves a _bit_ more gracefully. Of course, the only time Kris remembered Lance losing to anyone was to Red and that other guy three years ago, so maybe he turned into a jerkface after losing as well?

 _Or after a tie_ , Kris had to remind herself.

Still, it is only after Kris descended into the Dragon's Den that she realized what had just happened. She had a tie with the strongest gym leader in the region. With a Pokémon that barely listened to her, no less. Okay, sure, one would argue that it was a rather unconventional match with the odds skewered _highly_ in her favor.

One _could_ argue. But since no one was around, there was no dispute about it. Yup, it was an honest tie.

 _Wait 'till Iris hears about this_.

The Dragon's Den was essentially a big underground lake. Members of the dragon clan could be seen sparring with their Pokémon at the lakefront, ignoring Kris, which was a blessing, as she didn't want to get into some elitist argument about why she was allowed to enter. The man at the entrance had told to her to meet the elder in the Dragon Shrine, a wooden building built on the lake. Croc was no in no shape to ferry her around at the moment, and Kris wouldn't have trusted it even if it was, but fortunately Kris could just walk along the lakefront as an alternate path to the shrine.

The path Kris walked on was long, however, and soon Kris lost sight of any trainers, having to walk ever deeper into the cave. Kris made a mental promise that she would never set foot in a cave again after this, though fortunately this one didn't have Zubat flying at her.

As she was about halfway through, Kris felt a familiar sensation and had to stop. Either she was only imagining or the temperature in the cave had started to drop. Then, a sudden gust of wind rushed through her hair – in an underground cave.

_No. No way. Not now. It couldn't be. It can't be._

" _Kriiiiiis..._ "

 _It might be_.

The wind suddenly got so strong that Kris was knocked backwards and almost fell into the lake. Another gust of wind, and the unnaturally tall visage of a man with a black cloak, long white hair and a light blue mask appeared before her, the mask's grin looking like a bloodthirsty smirk.

 _It is_.

" _Hello again_ ," the Masked Man said.

"No, damn it!" Kris yelled. "I saw you get defeated. I swear, Gideon, if you really think you can-"

" _Gideon?_ " the Mask said in an amused tone. " _You seem to be forgetting something – the one behind this mask is irrelevant. Gideon is on his way to enjoy spending the rest of his life in a maximum security cell while I, the true Mask of Ice, roam free. And didn't I tell you something very important_?"

Using the wall as support, Kris stumbled up. Trying to think feverishly. If she yelled loud enough, someone in the shrine or in the cave might hear. Chandelure and Shuckie were still fit to fight, but even Chandelure had been effortlessly defeated before and she had no time to reach for a Poké Ball, anyway.

" _I told you that it wouldn't matter where you went_ ," the Masked Man boasted. " _I_ own _this region, but even if you went somewhere else, I would find you from the very depths of the world if I wanted. Did you really think someone like_ Gideon _could wield power like this_?"

"What do you want, then?" Kris asked – no matter what, she had to keep talking. Maybe his concentration would slip for just a second. "If you know about Gideon, you know I don't have the GS Ball."

" _Oh, I know_ ," the Masked Man said. " _You had the key to unlocking everything I have dreamed of. What has been my deepest desire for fifty years! And you pissed that away, you careless, airheaded little moron. How could a little girl like you possibly understand_?"

"Well... why are you here?" Kris asked.

" _Haven't you figured it out yet_? _Even Gideon did – it's over. There is no way you could be of use to me anymore. In the grand scheme of things, your life is inconsequential. Goodbye."_

This time, Kris wouldn't take it. During the split-second it took the Mask of Ice to raise his hand, Kris leaped out of the way. As the ice beam hit the wall instead, Kris jumped into the lake and started swimming away furiously, using her other hand to reach for her Poké Ball.

" _If you wish to go slowly, that's fine by me_ ," the Masked Man taunted. " _I can turn this entire lake into a solid block of ice if I want._ "

"Chandelure, g-"

As Kris tossed the Poké Ball, the Masked Man conjured up another blizzard. Manipulating the wind, he was able to pull Chandelure's Poké Ball to himself and snatch it before it was opened.

" _I admire your resolve, but it won't do you any good_ ," the Masked Man continued. " _Why do you think I waited until after your battle, hmm?_ _Don't worry, though – at least the rest of your Pokémon will keep you company in your icy gra-"_

"Dragon Pulse!"

A blue sphere of energy struck the Masked Man's hand, causing him to drop Chandelure's Poké Ball and open it, letting the ghost-type out as well. In the face of its fire-type attacks, the Masked Man jumped away and created an icy platform on the lake for him to land on.

Kris tried to see her mysterious savior. The voice sounded high-pitched, not like Clair's, so maybe it was one of the dragon tamers? Whoever it was, they commanded a mean-looking green dragon-type with long, sharp tusks.

"Fraxure," the same person ordered. "Dragon Rage!"

"Chandelure, Flamethrower!" Kris ordered.

As the Masked Man dodged these two attacks, Kris swam back towards land, once again feeling the cold as her clothes got soaking wet, though Kris was even worried about her bag. Even if she kept it closed, Kris doubted it was water-resistant.

Near the lake's edge, a hand suddenly appeared to pull Kris back on land, and soon Kris was treated with the familiar, widely smiling face of her savior.

"Hi, Kris, how's it going?" Iris asked cheerfully.

"Oh, you know, I almost died," Kris said warily. "Again. What are you-"

"I came here to see the dragon master," Iris replied. "What are the odds, huh?"

"Yeah, um, Iris, we're kind of in the middle of something here – wait, is that Pokémon yours?"

"Sure is! Axew has been taking some vitamins," Iris beamed, but turned serious the moment she turned to the battle again. "Fraxure, let's try one more Dragon P-"

But the Masked Man took advantage of the situation, quickly firing an ice beam that knocked out Fraxure. Kris ordered Chandelure to use Flamethrower again, but it was too slow, and using his wind powers, the Masked Man caused a large wave to crash right at the Chandelure. Kris and Iris recalled their Pokémon quickly.

"Don't sweat it, Kris," Iris assured. "I still have Exca-"

"Iris, look out!" Kris yelled.

Kris didn't stop to ask but pushed Iris to the ground and jumped the other way herself as the Masked Man jumped towards them, punching the area they were standing on, managing to completely freeze the part he hit with his fist.

" _You know what?!_ " the Masked Man bellowed. " _I think this has gone on long enough!_ "

Kris and Iris didn't have time to get up as the Mask put up his strongest wind yet, tossing both of them into the air and back into the lake. Then, he used both of his hands to fire continuous ice beams into the water while Kris and Iris were still struggling to stay on the surface.

" _Flail all you like!_ " the Masked Man taunted as the lake slowly started to freeze, ice covering parts of the lakefront and then spreading. " _First I'll get rid of you, then I'll destroy this pathetic clan, and then the Legendary Pokémon Society, and then_ everyone _who has ever opposed me! I should have just done this from the beginning. Unless the GS Ball is brought to me, this entire region will be known as an arctic wasteland for the next ten thousand years_!"

"Personally," a voice said, interrupting the Mask's attacks, "I'm not a fan of the cold."

With the Masked Man distracted, something rose from the lake, pulling both Kris and Iris out of the cold water. It was a long, serpentine Pokémon with beautiful blue scales, a smooth, rounded snot with a small horn and two stylized wings on its head. It wrapped its tail around Kris and Iris and lifted the two on its back, then fired a Flamethrower attack from the orb on its neck, melting the ice in the cave within seconds.

"It's a Dragonair!" Iris gasped.

The Dragonair's trainer soon made herself known, stepping out of the shadows, her arms crossed and her eyes fixed on the Masked Man, who tried to shield himself from Dragonair's fire.

"Well, would _Lance_ have come up with a quip as cool as that?!" Clair yelled at Kris.

Kris coughed up some water before responding. "Nah," she said weakly. "He would have just gone ahead and done it instead of talking."

"Screw you!" Clair snapped at Kris before returning to the Masked Man. "Personally, I don't care for people who try to mess up my clan's den. I see you're the criminal who's been causing trouble all over Johto. We'll see how you well you do on _my_ turf. Dragonair, Hyper Beam!"

Dragonair's orb glowed orange, and before the Masked Man could do anything, it launched a destructive orange beam of energy at him. As the beam hit, shards of debris flew all over the cave, forcing everyone to shield their heads, a black cloud of smoke emerging from the Masked Man had stood.

Dragonair then took the soaked Kris and Iris back to dry land, allowing Clair to recall it.

"Good work," she told the dragon-type.

"Thank you!" Iris gasped at her. "I... I never thought I'd meet the dragon master Clair in person!"

"Yeah, trust me, you'll regret ever wishing that soon," Kris deadpanned. "But – thanks for saving us."

"Yes, well, I stopped at the gym to pick up some food for my Dragonair," Clair said coldly, not acknowledging the praise. "On weekends, it stays in this lake, usually, and it will only respond to my commands. I also wanted to see how well you were doing, but you haven't even reached the shrine yet!"

"For obvious reasons!" Kris snapped. "I thought he'd been finished already, but now we have a chance – we can find out who he really is."

"I know who he is," Clair said as she watched the smoke clear and something climb up from the crater the Hyper Beam had caused.

Kris, Iris and Clair just watched as the Masked Man climbed up, his cloak severely damaged. He didn't seem to have any energy left to use his ice attacks, either, allowing Clair to just watch her with a smug smile on her face.

"As soon as I returned to the gym, I heard that the Masked Man had been arrested," Clair informed. "And just a minute later, someone ran up to me and said that they had seen him heading to the Dragon's Den. Thinking there may be more than one psychopath on the loose, I decided to call for reinforcements – not that I would need them, of course, but at least there would be witnesses to me taking him down. Anyway, I contacted the closest gym leader, Pryce, only to find out that he hadn't been seen in his gym since Friday, when he lost to a challenger from New Bark Town."

" _So someone finally connected the dots_ ," the Masked Man gloated. " _I'm glad, though_ _. I had enough of this stupid disguise business, anyway_."

The Mask of Ice pulled the mask off his face, immediately transforming. He shrank to the height of the average human male while his cloak and hair disappeared.

Both Kris and Iris stared, Iris practically making a dramatic gasp, while Clair scoffed. Before them stood gym leader Pryce, leaning on his cane and smirking, holding the mask in one hand.

"No," Iris said. "It can't be you!"

"Come on, he's the most proficient user of ice-types in the region," Clair said mockingly. "And yet he still couldn't defeat my Pokémon whenever we battled. What's your problem now, old man?"

"My problem?" Pryce asked quietly. "The same as it has been before either you or your cousin had even been born, Clair. I told you people before – I will stop at _nothing_ to get the GS Ball. And as for you, _Kris_..."

He pointed directly at Kris, who glared back at him.

"I'll repeat it once more," Pryce said. "You can defeat me, but no matter how hard you try, I will come back. And one of these days, you won't have you friends around to pull you out of the fire. No matter how hard you try, you're just ignorant trash from New Bark Town, while I am the Mask of Ice. The only way any of you can be spared is if you point me to the GS Ball's direction – why do you think I helped you back at the Ice Path?"

"I was honest with you that time," Kris said. "I don't know where it is. It was stolen from my bag earlier today."

Pryce smiled.

"I see," he said. "Well, then, at least it will be more interesting from now on. Enjoy your safety while it lasts, Kris. You will hear from me again."

"Yeah, about that," Clair said and took one step closer to Pryce. "In case you didn't get it, I'm here, and I'm not gonna just let you waltz out of here."

Smiling even wider, Pryce pulled out his cane and charged at Clair, swinging at her and forcing her to dodge. Moving extraordinarily fast for a 70-year old, Pryce moved for Kris and Iris next, the two barely dodging as he swung his cane. Clair tried to pull out one of he Poké Balls, but before she could, Pryce was suddenly surrounded by a pale blue glow, and then he was gone.

"N-no way," Iris said in shock. "He can teleport?"

"No," Kris muttered. "He has a Pokémon that can."

Iris gasped again. "Mewtwo!" she said. "I – we came to Blackthorn because Blaine said Mewtwo's loose again!"

Kris nodded. She hadn't though about Mewtwo too much after the incident at the Ruins of Alph, believing Blaine and Fuji had it under control. How naïve she had been – it wasn't enough that the Masked Man and Giovanni were in Johto, but the Mask had Mewtwo on his side. Suddenly, getting Neo Team Rocket's executives behind bars just didn't feel like an accomplishment anymore.

"I have to warn our master about all this," Clair said. "Since you were on your way to the shrine anyway, I'll take you."

With the help of Clair and her Dragonair, Kris and Iris made it to the shrine. It was an a small, old wooden building built atop a wide wooden platform located almost in the middle of the lake.

The interior was dark, with a few lanterns placed at the end of the room creating a strategic light. Two old men with shaved heads wearing somewhat similar robes as the Wise Trio and the Sprout Tower monks meditated along with man who was even older than them that a younger man in similar robes was serving tea to.

Kris and Iris looked around them in awe as Clair marched straight to the oldest man. There were paintings of famous Dragon Tamers, including Clair, and, as Kris noticed, Lance, his portrait being the biggest in the room and hanging directly behind the oldest man. There were also paintings and statues of dragon Pokémon, including familiar ones such as Gyarados and some strange ones Kris had never seen before, even as pictures in books.

"Psst, Iris," Kris whispered. "Who's the old guy?"

Iris frowned at Kris. "He's the Master of the Dragon Tamer Clan," she hissed.

"Oh, crap," Kris muttered. "I have to impress him if I want to complete my last challenge, so don't do anything stupid."

"Me?" Iris wondered. "I'm not the one who – oh, he's coming, be cool!"

Clair, the Master and the young man, presumably the Master's servant, slowly made their way to Kris and Iris, the latter practically standing at attention. Kris noticed that the Master was not only very short, but wore a helmet decorated with a model of a green, snake-like dragon Pokémon.

"This is my grandfather, our Master," Clair introduced. "Grampa, this is the young upstart who's the reason the Mask of Ice attacked us."

"Hey!" Kris protested.

"It's true, technically," Iris pointed out.

"Blhm," the Master said.

"Excuse me?" Kris said.

"The Dragon Master wishes to congratulate you for getting this far," the servant interpreted. "He has dispatched Blackthorn City's finest dragon tamers to hunt down the Mask of Ice and to inform the authorities of his true identity. You needn't worry."

Iris nudged Kris' sides with her elbow, and Kris took the hint. If he was really both Clair and Lance's grandfather, the man was probably around a hundred. Kris then nodded at Iris, wanting her to talk first, and while the two made wordless' no, you first' gestures for a while, Iris finally gave up.

"Um, hi," she said. "My name is Iris, I come from the Village of Dragons. It's an honor to meet you."

"Mmhhm."

"The Master knows of the village," the interpreter said. "He wishes you to give his heartfelt greetings to the Matriarch once you see her again."

"You know the Matriarch?" Iris wondered.

"Blfht."

"There aren't many famous Dragon Tamer clans left," the interpreter said. "Of the remaining ones, all elders of their clan know each other."

"Are you all really one big family?" Iris asked curiously.

"Blah."

"Some are in-laws, others have in a relationship with clan members and some have been either adopted or otherwise taken into the clan when they had nowhere else to go. Our clan has about forty active Dragon Tamers, though a couple a dozen more have spread out elsewhere."

"Oh, so you wish to be an accomplished Dragon Tamer as well?" Clair asked Iris, not having paid much attention to her before.

Iris nodded determinedly. "It won't be long until I'm going to be the gym leader of Opelucid City, and I'm not stopping there."

Clair rolled her eyes sarcastically, but the Dragon Master interrupted with some more indistinct muttering. The servant cleared his throat and continued translating.

"The Master expresses his desire to talk to you more at a later time, Iris. For now, he asks the name of the young challenger who fought Clair."

Kris stepped forward, unsure whether she should address the Master or his manservant.

"M-my name is Kris," she told the Master. "I'm here for one of your clan's challenges. I have completed all but one of the necessary trials to qualify to enter the Silver Conference. The Wise Trio should have-"

"Plaplah."

"The Dragon Master welcomes you, Kris. He has prepared for your challenge and asks you to follow him to the back of the room. He also asks Iris' presence, if possible."

Relieved that she wouldn't have to go alone, Kris followed the Master to the back of the room, Iris following and looking around the room admiringly. Kris couldn't appreciate the fine artwork as much, as she wondered what she had to do. Clearly it couldn't be anything _too_ complicated if it would take place inside the shrine – unless she had to beat the Master in battle or something.

The Master's servant instructed Kris and Iris to sit on the cushions on the floor while the Master himself sat on his usual spot, leaning against the wall. Clair stood in the shadows with her arms crossed. The servant then placed something on the floor in front of Kris and Iris. Kris was ready to cringe when she thought about what was to come - but it turned out to be a sheet of paper and a pencil.

"The challenge will be as such," the interpreter said. "You will answer these twenty questions in the paper truthfully and return the answers once you've done. Based on your answers, we'll determine whether you passed the challenge or not."

Iris looked excited, while Kris groaned. Multiple choice tests? She had thought - _hoped_ \- she would never have to see those again. That battle didn't seem such a bad idea now. Sighing, she took a look at the first question:

" _What are Pokémon to you?_

_A) Ally_

_B) Friend_

_C) Underling_ "

Kris frowned. That was it? That was the tough question? Shrugging, Kris answered the question, moving on to the next one while Iris scribbled feverishly even though one only had to circle the right option. It didn't take long for both Kris and Iris to return their papers to the Dragon Master. As soon as the Master started reading them, Clair stepped away from the shadows.

"Well?" she said impatiently. "Come on, what's the result? They failed, right?"

The Master kept on reading, the interpreter shushing Clair. Finally, he nodded and mumbled something to the interpreter, who seemed to catch on immediately, though even he looked surprised.

"Kris and Iris – congratulations!" he said, briefly glancing at the Master, who nodded and encouraged him to continue. "It is obvious that you both seem to care deeply for Pokémon – very commendable. Whatever you do, don't lose those beliefs. Iris, remember that skill alone will not make you a great dragon user – always keep the heart you demonstrated to us today with you. And Kris-"

Kris was certain everyone in the room could hear the rapid beating of her heart

"First thing tomorrow, the Master will inform the Silver Conference staff of the arrival of a new contestant," the interpreter said. "You have completed the necessary trials of the dragon clan and the Legendary Pokémon Society. We wish you good luck in your coming battles."

Kris just stared at the Master, unable to convey her feelings with words. All the nervousness and anxiety was, for a brief, beautiful moment, gone. Replaced with feelings of triumph. This was it. After enduring so much, almost getting killed many times, having to put up with stalkerific criminals and a loud-mouthed PokéDex, her dream had finally become true. In just a week's time, she'd be battling in the Silver Conference.

Live.

In front of a couple of thousand spectators. And the millions of people following the tournament through TV, radio and the Internet.

With a team of five that only had three competent battlers, and of them, only two actually obeyed her

 _And now the anxiety's back_.

"You're kidding!" Clair yelled at her grandfather. She stared at Kris and Iris. "They couldn't have! Even I haven't been approved! I – if you think _this_ has made you worthy of the Rising Badge, you're sorely mistaken. See, you didn't defeat me, so-"

"Hrmmmrh!"

"Clair, this child, both of them, in fact, have proven themselves worthy of the Rising Badge!" the interpreter said sternly. "The Master says: based on what I've heard, you could have won the battle had you prevented your pride from getting the best of you. You were the one who changed the rules, and now you must live with it. Give them the Rising Badge – or do I have to inform Lance of this?"

Clair clenched her teeth, but with visible disgust, she pulled two Rising Badges from her pocket and carelessly tossed them for both Kris and Iris to catch. Kris observed the badge: it was perhaps the coolest one yet. It was like the face of a black dragon with shiny red eyes. Kris didn't even pay attention to Clair storming off in a huff, and neither did Iris, whose face had lit up when she received the badge.

"Wow, and I didn't even get to fight her!" she said. "Now I have six of them!"

"Yeah, that's – six?" Kris asked. "But... I only have four."

"Well, I _have_ been training to become a gym leader, but Drayden says I need eight of them to apply," Iris explained cheerfully. "Rules are rules, so I traveled around the Unova region in search of more badges. I got some instruction from this guy called Cheren, but couldn't beat him, but did I manage to get the best of Roxie, Burgh, Elesa, Clay and Skyla."

"Hmmh," the Master said.

"Oh?" the interpreter said, surprised. "Well – if you wish, sir."

He snapped his fingers, prompting one of the quiet men meditating in the room to get up and walk out of the shrine. Soon enough, he returned carrying a red pillow with something purple resting on top of it.

"Before you go, Iris, we wish you to have this," the interpreter said. "I'm sure you'll treat it with the same love as the rest of your Pokémon."

Iris could barely hold in her excitement and looked even happier than Kris was right now as the man put the pillow down on the floor next to her. The thing on the pillow was apparently a Pokémon, but it was one of the least impressive Kris had ever seen. It just looked like a purple pile of goo, barely a foot in height, with two beady black eyes that blinked curiously at Iris, who made a strange high-pitched squeak as she looked at the Pokémon.

"Oh. My. Gosh," she said. "It's a Goomy!"

"A what?" Kris wondered and took out SkrillDex for a scan.

" _Goomy, the Soft Tissue Pokémon,"_ SkrillDex informed. " _A Pokémon native to the Kalos region, it prefers damp, shady places. The slimy membrane that covers its body makes most physical human attacks slide off it harmlessly, making even wild specimen usually friendly to humans. Goomy is said to be the weakest of all dragon-type Pokémon_."

"Hey!" Iris snapped and covered what she presumed to be Goomy's ears. "Not right in front of it."

" _Unit makes no apologies, but points out that emotions are a design flaw in the software of fleshy meatbags_."

"Okay, you're going in the timeout corner again," Kris muttered and shoved SkrillDex back in her bag.

"Is this Goomy really for me?!" Iris asked the Master as she picked the pillow up to bring the Goomy closer to her face.

"Pla pla plah, blah blerft. Hrmmh hmmh hmm bleff pla pla."

"Yes," the interpreter confirmed.

"Thank you so much!" Iris squeed at he Master and accepted the Poké Ball the Goomy's carrier offered her. "This was exactly what I wanted. All I need is now is Skrelp and I'll have all the Pokémon I have ever wanted! This is so awesome!"

"Don't I get a Pokémon?" Kris asked as Iris tapped the Goomy with the Poké Ball, wondering if she could get something that'd help her get through the Silver Conference.

"I'm afraid our last one before that Goomy went to that particularly talented young trainer who visited the Dragon's Den two days ago," the interpreter said. "By defeating Clair _and_ getting a full score from our test, we deemed her worthy of a rare Dratini with the ability Extremespeed."

"...I'm doomed," Kris mumbled.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Blackthorn City Pokémon Center, Johto** _

_**A few hours later** _

The afternoon with Iris passed incredibly quickly. Unlike last time, which was sadly interrupted by the arrival of a homicidal lunatic, this time the two were able to properly catch up on things. Iris told Kris almost everything she had learned during her stay at Elm's lab, while Kris told Iris about her fight with Mewtwo, her teaming up with Lance in Mahogany Town and her attack on the Radio Tower. She was about to gloss over some of the help she got and her embarrassing defeat at the hands of Ariana and Archer, but decided to be honest for once, knowing that Iris wouldn't judge her.

The duo also inspected the shape of Iris' Goomy. It was clearly at a low level, only knowing attacks such as Bubble and Absorb and not even having enough power to knock out a practice dummy Iris had made it from leaves and sticks. Iris was forced to admit there was truth to the claims of the PokéDex.

Finally, the two swung by the Blackthorn Pokémon Center to heal their Pokémon to pick up Shrew, who cheerfully embraced Kris upon being returned and did the same to Iris one he noticed her. Apparently it had made a full recovery, while the healing of Kris and Iris' Pokémon didn't take long. There weren't a lot of people in the Center, and the few that were present were all talking about one thing: the Masked Man, his true identity and the rumor of him appearing in Blackthorn.

Kris didn't want to let it ruin her mood. Now that everyone knew he was Pryce, he couldn't just hide in plain sight anymore. While she had been afraid of him every time he had attacked, she had also been rescued every single time, and each time had demonstrated her that even his powers were limited. Without his mask, Pryce was human just like the rest. And, most importantly, something told Kris that she wouldn't have travel alone any longer..

That something was a van waiting at the Pokémon Center's parking lot, Blaine, professor Elm and Leaf waiting by it and cheerfully waving at Kris as she approached. Blaine was a little too cheerful – the moment Kris was close enough, he grabbed her and gave her a bone-crushing hug.

"She's truly done it!" Blaine yelled out as he hugged Kris, sounding almost weepy. "Ever since you helped me with Mewtwo, I _knew_ you'd go far! As soon as we found about Mewtwo, we got so worried you'd be hurt!"

"Yeah, well, these guys did," Leaf said stoically. "I kinda assumed you'd still be around Mahogany Town or something. I guess I owe Elm fifty pokédollars now."

"Well done, Kris," Elm said as he shook hands with her. "I must say, um, I had my reservations before, seeing you leave my lab with that Totodile. But it has performed well, it seems, and-"

"Yeah, about that," Kris said. "I'm gonna need your help – all of your help, if possible. The Silver Conference is in a week, and I need to train. But as soon as Croc evolved into Feraligatr, it has started to ass around again. The only time it will fight is when _it_ wants to, not when I say so."

"We'll sort it out!" Blaine said jovially. "It's the least I can do for helping with the Mewtwo case. I'll be staying in New Bark Town until we figure out how to stop it."

"Is it still in Blackthorn?" Kris asked.

Blaine shook his head. "I can feel its presence, and it left the moment the Masked Man did. We caught a glimpse of him – just hard to believe Pryce was the one behind it."

"Um, yes, and I do remember suggesting something along those lines," Elm pointed out.

Iris glared at him, prompting him to go on the defense immediately.

"Not that any one of us could have known!" he said quickly.

"Well, you have a whole week of training ahead of you," Iris told Kris. "While I help the others solve this case and find out how we can stop both Mewtwo and the Mask of Ice, I can help you with your training."

"As can I!" Blaine announced.

"Oh, and, um, me as well," Elm promised.

Everyone looked at Leaf, who seemed bothered by the attention at first and then shrugged uncaringly.

"...suppose I could spare an hour or two," she muttered.

Kris nodded and managed a tired smile. "Thanks, guys. Are we going home now?"

Leaf hopped on the driver's seat of the van and Elm sat next to her. Blaine opened the side door and immediately went to his books, which he had scattered all over the van, while Kris and Iris went on the seats at the very back. Kris exhaling deeply as she let herself collapse.

"You okay?" Iris asked.

"Just feel like the longest week of my life has just ended," she muttered through a yawn. "Worse yet, another one is just ahead."

"Hey, it'll be fun!" Iris said as Leaf started the car and backed the car away from the parking lot. "You'll get to see New Bark Town and your mom again!"

"Uh... yeah," Kris said. "Fun. Sure."

Kris got a headache just thinking about it. These past few weeks, she had felt more free than ever before, not even caring if she had a home to go back to or not. Just the idea of waking up tomorrow in the same old dingy basement just added to her anxiety.

But that wasn't the worse part. It was the one whom Kris knew was there – if she had gotten her eighth badge two days ago and the Silver Conference was still a week away, there was no place else for her to be. And Kris just knew she would make her presence known somehow.

"Oh, you have no idea who we saw yesterday!" Iris said suddenly as Kris was about to fall asleep. "That pigtailed cosplayer friend of yours! I guess you'll get to see her too, huh?"

 _Damn it_.

* * *


	16. Home, Sweet, Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris returns home to New Bark Town to train. But as much as her Pokémon need it, she will need it even more.

_**Location: New Bark Town, Johto** _

Kris woke up to a familiar view: the dingy, peeling walls in her basement room, decorated with posters of Suicune and famous trainers such as Morty, Lance and Cynthia, a small lamp in the corner constantly on due to lack of light. After about eighteen minutes of just laying in the bed, Kris pulled herself up and slouched up the stairs and to the kitchen, grabbing whatever miscellaneous food she could find - no time to make miso soup or anything. Then, she slouched back downstairs, placed her breakfast on the nightstand by her bed and, without thinking of it more, collapsed back into bed, ready to fall asleep again.

Only this time, she got a mouthful of purple hair and flinched as someone else emerged from under the several layers of covers.

"Morning," Iris mumbled, her hair pointing in every possible direction.

Kris exhaled, still clutching her chest.

**Chapter Sixteen: _Home, Sweet, Hell_**

"Something wrong, Kris?" Iris asked drowsily.

"No, I just..." Kris paused to rub her eyes. "Sorry, before I left, it felt like every morning was the same. When I even bothered to get up, that is. For a while there I thought I had never even left."

"Mmh," Iris said, eyes half-closed, barely paying attention. "Do we-" she stopped to yawn. "Do we have to get up at all? I mean, we're just gonna end up back here. What time is it?"

"A little past eight. I promised to be at the lab at ten for the training. Good thing it just takes just ten minutes to walk there. Oh, here," Kris added, gesturing at the nightstand. "I got you some breakfast. I was wondering why I brought so much food for a while. My subconscious is messed up right now."

Iris enthusiastically leaned over Kris and grabbed half of the food Kris had brought down.

"Thanks," she said. "And thanks for letting me sleep here. I enjoyed Elm's lab just fine, but he kinda forgets to clean sometimes. I just don't get that guy: he's a great cook, but he buries himself with work so much that he has to eat instant, if he eats anything at all."

"I guess that's why he, you know, lives alone nowadays."

"Oh, yeah," Iris said. "He told me about that. A little."

"Anyway, it's cool," Kris said. "Though I thought we agreed we'd sleep head-to-toe..."

"Yeah, I move around a _lot_ when I sleep," Iris said with her mouth full of bread. "I think I warned you about that before we went to bed. Hope I didn't wake you up."

"Nah, nothing wakes me up," Kris said. "When you live with a family as noisy as mine, you learn to adjust."

Iris looked up at the cracks in the ceiling. "I can't hear anything now. I would have loved to meet your mom."

"No, you wouldn't," Kris muttered. "She's not even home – I noticed a note to my dad that she'll be in some seminar until Wednesday. And I doubt my dad even lives here anymore."

As the two ate, Kris turned on the TV. While doing so, she glanced at the calendar on the wall. As she woke up, she was briefly scared that the events of the last couple of weeks had been a weird dream, but the calendar didn't lie: only one week left until the Silver Conference.

The morning news were on, and unsurprisingly, the Masked Man incident was all everyone was talking about.

" _As gym leader Clair revealed_ _the Masked Man's, known to some as the Mask of Ice, identity, controversy has been stirred throughout Johto. With the exposure of Mahogany Town's gym leader Pryce as the man behind the mask, the Mahogany Town Gym has been closed until further notice. The International Police and the different police departments of Johto have directed almost all of their resources to the incident, and the remaining seven gym leaders have promised their support. Even the Pokémon League Champion Lance said this in a press conference just this morning_."

The footage changed to Lance standing behind a podium and surrounded by journalists from various media. Though his voice was firm, his expression remained unchanged throughout his speech.

" _Citizens of Johto_ ," he said. " _The Elite Four and the Pokémon League pledge their support in the battle against the Mask of Ice. Though many civilian offers for help are appreciated, the International Police has asked me to issue a warning: do not attempt to approach the Masked Man. Report all sightings to the new website we have established or via phone. If you come across him in person, escape immediately. To reassure everyone, however, it is unlikely he will appear in the public now that we know his identity. He is a terrorist, and as such, his greatest weapon is fear. This is why we ask of you: do not abandon your daily routines. Keep workplaces and schools open,_ _but avoid moving on foot after dark. We are also happy to announce that the Silver Conference will be held normally._ "

"Thank goodness for that," Kris told Iris. "We better start to get dressed. Knowing Elm, he's probably waiting us already".

**~o~O~o~**

"Ah, here you are!" Elm said and adjusted his glasses as Kris and Iris stepped into the lab. "I've been waiting for you. Um, not that I mean to imply I have been bored because of you or anything, no, I've been keeping quite busy-"

"They get it," grunted Blaine, who was going over his notes on a nearby desk. "Well, Kris, here we are!" he said jovially and pulled out a piece of paper among his notes. "I'll be happy to point out that I've compiled a training schedule for you!"

"A whatnow?" Kris wondered.

Kris read the paper Blaine had given her. The hours of every day from now until Sunday were marked full of training, with brief pauses for eating and a few hours free every evening. Kris groaned.

"But... is all this really necessary?" Kris pleaded. "I mean, can't I go from like a theoretical approach first?"

"I've marked plenty of time for that, too," Blaine said. "First off, we'll start the day with one practice battle with either Iris, Leaf or myself. We can't all help you at once, because the Mewtwo case is our priority."

"Of course," Kris said. "I just-"

" _Then,_ for the rest of the day, we'll have you battling some of the lab Pokémon Professor Elm has and maybe some of the wild Pokémon outside town. When you have time, read up on theory as well. Tomorrow, we'll begin your kendo practice-"

"Why?" Kris wondered. "Is that going to make me a better trainer?"

"Believe me, yes," Blaine said. "I'll help you train with that-"

"Goodie," Kris muttered.

"-and Wednesday, you can study up on theory and practice meditation. Leaf can help you with some of the theoretical stuff. Thursday, fitness training – _will you stop moaning_!"

"Sorry," Kris said awkwardly.

"Friday, we'll have enough time to tutor you in battle technique, and obviously every day we'll get some kendo practice in as well. Saturday, you can look up theory and head over to the Silver Conference website to read about your opponents. Sunday, I'll test your skills first thing in the morning before we head over to Mt. Silver so we can be there before six PM and get some decent rooms."

"At least I have a few hours off every evening," Kris sighed.

"Um, actually, about that," Elm said. "We'd though that since we _are_ using our free time to help you out of the goodness of our hearts, maybe you'd spare that time for helping us do research on Mewtwo and the Masked Man."

Kris wondered where she could fit her mandatory 'lounge on the bed and do nothing but watch TV or browse the Internet' time. But if there was one thing Elm was really good at, it was making Kris feel like she was obligated to.

"Fine," Kris said bitterly. "Which one of you will I fight today."

Iris raised her hand. "I've been looking forward to this – our first battle together!"

"Yes, but before that," Elm said. "I understood from your tired rants yesterday that you have had trouble getting your Feraligatr to obey you."

"Hah, lack of discipline!" Blaine said. "What you need to do, Kris, is to grab it by its jaw, pull it close to your face and tell it to suck it up and do what you tell it or else!"

" _Or_ , I could examine if something went wrong during the evolution process," Elm said calmly. "It is, well, my specialty, after all. From what I heard, as a Croconaw, it was obedient and eager to help."

"Or we could do that," Blaine mumbled and went back to studying his notes.

Wanting to get to the bottom of the problem fast, Kris gave Croc's Poké Ball to Elm, who put it in a machine Kris hadn't even noticed before. The machine was connected to a computer terminal which Elm controlled it with, bringing a scanning device of some sort closer to the Poké Ball, the terminal's monitor filled with readings about Croc.

"I see," Elm mumbled. "Yes, hmm, that could be it. Or perhaps – no, well, possibly, I-"

" _Professor_!" Kris snapped.

"Right, um, sorry, this is all just so fascinating," Elm said and laughed nervously. "It appears both of Croc's evolutions, especially the latest one, came later than intended. It hasn't been using most of its power and hasn't properly prepared the transition to its new, powerful body. It still should have prevented itself from evolving for a little while longer."

"I didn't know Pokémon could stop their evolutions," said Iris, who tried to lean closer to the monitor to inspect the readings.

"Oh, indeed they can," Elm said, his finger raised dramatically – Kris felt a lecture approaching. "You see, most Pokémon are content to evolve at their own pace, and the process is usually slow, which is why you rarely see fully evolved Pokémon in nature. But every Pokémon is an individual, and some prefer not to change, holding off their evolutions indefinitely. Others, however, can't wait to get all that new power. I assume Croc was balancing between its urge to become more powerful and its reason, the former eventually winning."

"It was an intense situation, too," Kris recalled with a wince. "It wasn't just a normal battle – Ariana and Archer would have killed us both if it hadn't evolved. Of course, it still lost, which probably explains something. The only time I made it listen since was with Clair, and even then it wasn't much."

"Leave it to me for today," Elm said. "I'll try to see what's wrong."

Feeling calmer and fully trusting Elm to unlock the secret of getting Croc to obey in time, Kris followed Iris to the lab's spacious back yard, where several Pokémon were allowed to run free. Elm often had his assistants capture wild Pokémon and observe their behavior for a while before releasing them again, while also taking in abandoned, wounded and otherwise poorly adjusted Pokémon. Kris remembered being sent by Elm to capture specimen like Sentret or Rattata, which she did with ease even without a Pokémon.

Finding a good, empty spot, Iris told Kris to stay put and walked almost about fifteen yards away.

"All right!" she said loudly. "I forgot my stopwatch inside, so no time limit, two Poké Balls, got it?"

"You bet," Kris said. "Shrew, come out!"

"Fraxure, go!"

Iris sent out Axew's evolution, while Kris preferred to try things out with Shrew. It had been a while since Shrew had chalked up a win, but Kris was confident that it had finally put Navel Rock behind it and was ready to battle like it was always meant to.

"I would have thought you wanted to test out your new slime ball," Kris pointed out.

"I don't want to hurt the poor baby!" Iris said, almost horrified that Kris even suggested it. "I need to feed it and cuddle with it first, then maybe it's ready to take on the wild Pokémon outside. Now, Fraxure, Dragon Pulse!"

Iris was so sudden with her order that Kris almost missed her chance, but managed to order Shrew to use Dig. As it took Fraxure a couple of seconds to charge its attack, Shrew managed to go underground just in time to avoid it. But as Shrew emerged again and tried to strike Fraxure, the dragon-type dodged effortlessly, moving much faster than Shrew.

"Good, now Slash!" Iris ordered.

Fraxure tried to use its sharp tusks to cut Shrew, but Shrew managed to block the attack and instead grabbed the tusk and climbed on it, managing to get into Fraxure's blind spot.

"Oh no!" Iris said. "Fraxure, shake it off!"

"Don't let go, Shrew!" Kris encouraged. "Use Sand-Attack!"

Shrew managed to blind Fraxure temporarily, but couldn't hold on any longer and was shaken off and tossed on the ground. Shrew got back on its feet quickly, though, while Fraxure was still struggling to get the sand off its eyes.

"Use Slash!" Kris ordered

Fraxure couldn't dodge this time, and Shrew managed to cause some damage, but it quickly ran away when Fraxure regained its vision.

"Now, time for our signature move," Kris told Shrew.

Shrew didn't even have to be given specifics. Curling itself into a ball, Shrew then started spinning rapidly and rocketed itself towards Fraxure, hitting it in the stomach and quickly spinning away before it could counterattack. Shrew then gained even more momentum as it turned around and spun back towards Fraxure.

"Go for the head!" Kris told Shrew.

While still spinning, Shrew launched itself into the air and tried to cannonball at Fraxure's head, but Iris had something else in mind.

"Dragon Claw!" she yelled.

Before Shrew could hit it, Fraxure made its claws go light blue and struck the Sandshrew with them, stopping the Rollout and knocking Shrew on the ground, too weakened to fight. Kris just gaped at it for a while, unable to comprehend. Shrew had hit Fraxure twice, while Fraxure hadn't done any damage before the Dragon Claw, yet still knocked Shrew out with one hit. Finally, Kris recalled the Pokémon.

"Thanks, Fraxure. And good work, Kris!" Iris cheered on as if she hadn't just beaten one of Kris' Pokémon. "You made Shrew a lot stronger than before. But if you don't mind me giving you a tip – don't just throw your Pokémon into harm's way like that, not before you've made sure to get a good idea of your opponents' moves and strategy. Take it easy for a while, then strike when you see a weak point."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kris grumbled – she didn't want to admit that she _did_ mind taking tips, even though she knew that her advice had truth to it. "I still have one left, so – Chandelure, go!"

It was a gamble, but Chandelure was her strongest Pokémon, and if anything could defeat two of Iris' remaining 'mons, Chandelure was it. Since Iris didn't say anything, Kris gave out the first order.

"Chandelure, Flamethrower!"

"Use Dragon Dance, Fraxure," Iris said calmly.

Kris couldn't understand – even in the face of the attack, Iris ordered her Pokémon to basically dance around in one place, though the glow that surrounded it as it danced made Kris believe it was boosting is power somehow. The flamethrower hit Fraxure, but didn't seem to do much.

"Fire attacks don't do much against dragons," Iris pointed out. "Well, hardly anything does much against dragons. Except," Iris shuddered, "ice. And I heard rumors they discovered a new type that wipes the floors with dragons, but I'll believe it when I see it! Now, Assurance!"

"Uh – Shadow Ball!"

Fraxure was once again faster, and the top of its head glowed purple as it jumped into the air and bashed Chandelure with its head. Kris had never seen an attack like that before, but whatever it did, it knocked Chandelure out before it could even attack.

"What was _that_?!" Kris wondered as she grudgingly recalled Chandelure.

Iris didn't respond immediately, but rushed to her Fraxure and hugged it, thanking it for a good battle. Kris couldn't stay mad long, either – it was good practice, and from the look of it, Iris could potentially help her out a lot.

"It was a dark-type move," Iris explained as she recalled Fraxure. "It's important to have some variety in your attacks, though just Dragon Claw could have probably done the trick, too. Anyway, don't feel bad about losing – I _have_ been doing this a lot longer than you."

"Wha – who's feeling bad here?!" Kris snapped defensively.

"Well, I don't think you're the graceful loser type," Iris said patiently. "Remember that battle you had against youngster Joey?"

"Hey, I don't remind _you_ of your old shames!"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Tuesday** _

First thing in the morning, Kris faced disappointment when Elm gave Croc back and basically told her he had no idea how to get it to obey, though he had theories. For now, Elm advised Kris to only use Croc when facing strong opponents and basically give it orders that she assumed Croc would agree with – so in this case, mainly powerful, offensive strikes. Elm admitted that by doing so, Kris was essentially letting Croc order _her_ around, which was probably counterproductive, but also the only way to get any use out of Croc in the Silver Conference. Then, before she could ask more, she was dragged to her kendo practice by Blaine, which took place in an area Blaine had specifically built in the lab's basement.

Kris chafed under the layers of protective gear she had been made to wear. In addition to the helmet with a metal grille, she was also wearing a breastplate, a thick pair of gloves and faulds, all on top of clothes she was also made to wear. Blaine soon emerged from his dressing room clad in similar armor, handing Kris what he called _shinai_ , four bamboo slats held together with leather fittings – he explicitly forbade Kris from calling it a 'stick'.

"I tried this with the kimono girls already," Kris pointed out. "Well, for a couple of minutes, anyway. And even then, I really couldn't see the-"

"You're putting your Pokémon on the line, and the more they grow, the more they need to have a strong trainer to look up to," Blaine lectured. "Out of all the martial arts I've made myself familiar with, this seems to be the best fit for both the body and the mind. Besides, it's what I studied before I became a gym leader. Remember the Way of the Sword, Kris."

"Can you fight with real swords?" Kris asked Blaine.

"Of course," he answered casually, "but you won't be learning _that_ in years. For now, a _shinai_ is more than enough to subdue your opponents."

"If I see the Masked Man again, will this help?" Kris asked as she tried to hold the _shinai_ like Blaine did, not wanting to be laughed at.

"Well, I doubt hitting him will do _that_ much good," Blaine admitted, "but yes, if you're physically and mentally fit, you'll be able to stand up against him. All right, for now, we'll focus on strikes, as thrusting is way too advanced for your level. I know you already understand the basics, so we'll skip that. For now, just remember the _kiai_."

"Meaning?" Kris asked.

Blaine demonstrated by striking Kris squarely in the head with his _shinai_ , yelling out a loud "MEN!" and stamping the floor with his foot while doing so. Kris flinched – while it didn't exactly hurt, Kris still felt the impact, in spite of her helmet.

"Meaning _that_ ," Blaine explained. "You have to release your energy – give out a good shout. But breathe properly, obviously, you don't want to get worn out from shouting alone."

Kris remembered seeing the kimono girls train. Or, more importantly, hearing it – you couldn't hear yourself think in that racket. But Kris was never one to make too much noise, herself. The idea of screaming her head off sounded more complicated than hitting the right spot.

The training lasted for two forty-five minute stretches, a small break in between, though to Blaine, even that was being overly generous, and Blaine said they'd resume training in the evening. For now, Kris was more than glad to put her armor away for a moment and go relax in the lab before Blaine came back and announced whom she would be fighting today. Considering how fired up he had been, he was likely going to choose himself.

The lab was empty when Kris climbed up the stairs, so when no one was around to blame her for slacking off, Kris crumpled on one of the chairs and put her legs casually on another. Even the training with the kimono girls hadn't made her legs hurt _this_ bad – Kris wondered if she could have her practice battles sitting down.

When the lab's doors were opened, Kris was ready to greet whoever came in – only for her to go pale when it turned out to be two people. One was professor Elm, but sadly enough, he was happily chatting with a short girl with brown, pigtailed hair and brown eyes wearing blue overalls, a red shirt and a puffy white hat.

"Hey, whatup, Kris?" Lyra greeted cheerfully. "Thanks for the chat, professor! Looks like you've hand your hands full all this time!"

"Um, yes, well, no problem," Elm said wearily and put the pile of documents he was carrying on the closest table. "You've obviously been busy as well. Winning the Whirl Cup, getting eight badges, training with the kimono girls. You've been putting New Bark Town on the map!"

"Well, I couldn't have done without you, professor," Lyra said smarmily. "Thanks for all your help too, by the way!"

"What help?!" Kris asked immediately, glaring at Elm. "What is she talking about?"

"Well, she called me for advice a few times," Elm said evasively. "When I haven't been too busy, I did my best to give her that. I could have given you some, but you didn't exactly call me very oft- well, not once, really."

"Well that's – I mean – ugh, never mind, I have a better question," Kris said quickly. "Why is she here?"

"Same reason as you," Lyra said and crossed her arms. "Professor Elm has promised to help me train for the Silver Conference."

"Judas!" Kris gasped at Elm accusingly. "Quisling! Lando! Gideon!"

Elm raised his hands and stuttered for a while before managing to utter something in his defense: "Um, now, now, Kris, calm down, please. You of all people should know that both you and Lyra are important students of mine, so to speak. I gave you both your first Pokémon, helped you start your journeys, gave you support when you needed it – and in return, I have gotten lots of useful Pokémon data from Lyra."

"And me!" Kris argued.

"And y- well, yes, to some degree," Elm said quietly. "Point is, I will assist Lyra in her training as well."

"That's great!" Lyra told Elm. "See, I need to focus my energy on the Dratini I got recently – it's a very rare breed, probably the only Dratini in the world that knows the move Extremespeed!"

Kris scoffed in disgust and turned away from Lyra, relieved that she was focusing on her Pokémon instead of belittling Kris. Still, Kris was certain that there was no way the day could get any worse.

"Kris!" called Blaine as he entered the room. "It's time for us to test our skills against each other – you shall bear witness to the technique passed down the Blaine line for _generations_!"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Wednesday** _

"Okay, Kris, focus," Leaf said holding open a book full of Pokémon trivia. "The move Trick Room does what?"

"Uh, damn, I know this one," muttered Kris, who sat opposite to Leaf. "It... stops Pokémon from using items they hold!"

"No, that's _Magic_ Room," Leaf corrected. "Trick Room makes fast Pokémon slow and vice versa. We'll try another one. Say your opponent uses a Kecleon and you have a Ludicolo with the following mov-"

Leaf noticed Kris wasn't paying attention at all, instead trying to look out of the window, occasionally noticing a flash of light. Lyra and Iris had left outside earlier, promising to practice battle each other. It had already lasted longer than Kris' battle against Iris. Leaf snapped her fingers in front of Kris.

"42!" Kris said quickly, without thinking. "Sorry, I was definitely paying attention, I just – okay, can I be blunt?"

"Aren't you always?" Leaf asked.

Kris ignored that. "See, I think I'm more of a hands-on learner. I learn by battling, or watching others battle."

"And reading ' _Sue the Master Trainer_ ' where Pokémon battles last for hours and every Pokémon can use every possible move, all of them causing magnificent explosions – even Splash" Leaf guessed. "Yes, I did see the movie adaptation," she added when Kris frowned at her. "And while you're right, you can't ignore the theoretical side of things."

"Easy for a book nerd like you to say," Kris grumbled.

Leaf closed the book and smiled coyly. "Maybe a break would be in order?"

Kris sighed. "Thanks. Sorry, I just hate this dry memorizing and studying. I was never good at that."

"I get that – people are different," Leaf agreed. "I should probably read up more on the Masked Man. Maybe one of these books has information on how to stop his mask's power or how to destroy that thing."

Leaf gestured at the ridiculously tall pile of books next to her, starting from the floor and ending well above Leaf's head, forcing her to stretch her arms to reach the top of te pile. Kris wasn't sure if that was funny or scary, so she ignored it.

"I hope," she said quietly. "It fell like a hundred feet down a crevice and hit the rocky ground below, but the next time I saw it, it had barely a scratch."

Mentioning the Masked Man made Kris remember something. She hadn't given it much thought, what with all that important stuff involving herself taking priority above other people's troubles. The question was, how should she phrase it?

"Leaf," Kris began, "you seem to be really dedicated to all this, so I wond-"

"Iris didn't tell you?" Leaf asked immediately without taking her eyes off her book.

"Well... no," Kris said. "I think she was about to at some point, but changed the subject quickly. Which is weird, because she insisted on telling me everything that had happened since we last saw each other. And I mean _everything_. I could probably name the specific times of day when she had to use the bathroom."

"Yeah, I suppose she wanted to wait for when I was ready," Leaf said quietly, still reading the book. "You wouldn't just believe if I told you that I want to stand for justice and all that stuff?"

Kris scoffed.

"Figures," Leaf continued. "Okay, then. Just like Blaine, I _do_ have a personal thing here. You remember when we talked about my friends not coming back from Route 224?"

Kris remembered. It was when Shrew had gone missing, and Kris had been too worried about it to get herself worked up arguing why Suicune was innocent. Once again, she had to bite her tongue and just nodded.

"Well, I think they were lured out there by someone, possibly members of Neo Team Rocket," Leaf explained. "They were very interested in me, so I thought they wanted to silence the rest of the group as well and were involved somehow. That's why I decided to help Blaine, because I knew about Team Rocket's plans."

Kris nodded again – this all was what Leaf had told her already.

"But then the Masked Man showed up, turning out to be the leader of Neo Team Rocket even..." Leaf paused and squeezed her chair's armrests involuntarily. "It wasn't the first time I've seen him."

Kris waved at Leaf to go on. All this she knew – it was just that she hadn't though about Leaf's words to him until now.

"I suppose Iris told you about how the Masked Man used to kidnap children?" Leaf asked, and Kris nodded for the third time. "He would seek them out, deliberately following them for days, maybe weeks. I suppose I can see how he could move around Kanto and Johto without getting caught now. Many were returned unharmed to their families after a few days, while others weren't returned until several years had passed. Do you know why he did that?"

Kris shook her head.

"To make sure he would have an army in the future," Leaf explained. "Children, particularly orphans or those unsatisfied with their parents, are easier to brainwash. He would outfit them with masks, put them in teams of two and have them carry out missions, starting from petty thievery and vandalism and ending with large-scale robberies, kidnappings, even terrorist strikes. He wouldn't mistreat them, just offered them a life free of responsibilities, full of nothing but mischief and hedonistic pleasure. Soon, some kids lost their identities, forgot why they were prisoners at all. He gave everyone nicknames or numbers and called them that all the time, refusing to hear out if they tried to tell them their real names."

"That's," Kris rubbed the back of her head, trying to imagine all that. "Um, I don't know what word to use exactly beyond 'effed up'. But then, how do you know all th-"

Leaf looked at Kris in the eyes sadly, putting her book down.

"Oh," Kris said finally. "Oh. _Oh_. Crap. I'm sor-"

"I know, everyone says that," Leaf said and continued reading her book. "Really, I don't need people to feel sorry for me. Just know that I'll do whatever it takes to get rid of the Masked Man. But thanks for listening, though."

Except Kris hadn't listened to the last sentence. As the back door of the lab was opened and the lab was filled with noisy chattering, Kris looked up and glared. Iris and Lyra were talking enthusiastically, going over their battle as they took their Pokémon to the healing machine.

"You know, Kris, she's not as bad as you like to think she is," Leaf pointed out, correctly reading her look.

Kris just rolled her eyes.

"I mean, okay, she's not the most _pleasant_ person," Leaf amended, leaving out the description she had in mind for Kris. "But the way you act when she turns up, it's like she's worse than Pryce himself."

"You couldn't know," Kris grumbled and shoved the Pokémon theory book back into Leaf's hands. "Come on, break's over. Ask me anything!"

Leaf sighed. "Okay," she said wearily. "The average airspeed velocity of a Spearow-"

"Ask me another one!"

Meanwhile, in another corner of the lab, Elm was feverishly going over Blaine's notes, Blaine smiling at him warmly as he bought two cups of coffee to him – he had already drank three and it was only three in the afternoon.

"Thanks," Elm muttered, his nose practically hitting the notes as he read them. "Feel free to get yourself one, too."

"I really appreciate your help in this," Blaine said and sat down next to Elm. "Did you find anything?"

"Suppose we could prevent Mewtwo from using its powers," Elm theorized, chewing on a pencil and staring into the distance, which made Blaine feel nostalgic. "Is there anything strong enough to bind its hands? Granite? Diamonds? But it's still psychic, and can probably attack unarmed. You think the tube on its neck is a weak point?"

"Um, possibly," Blaine said, overwhelmed by Elm's enthusiasm. "Fuji made some last-minute changes, though, so I only have 95% of the details I need. Plus it kind of killed everybody and blew up the lab before they could test out its powers."

Elm winced. "Blaine," he said carefully and took of his glasses for the tenth polishing of the day. "You know we don't have the Master Ball anymore. You were certain it would stay away forever, but a week later, and it's back. What exactly do you plan to _do_ if – _when_ we confront it?"

"Talk to it," Blaine simply said. "I didn't have a chance to do it before. The last time I talked to it was before it fled – it spared my life, I know I can convince it to spare others as well."

"So we're basically working with just your certainty here," Elm clarified. "Because, while the damage hasn't been too big yet, what's to stop Mewtwo from, say, hitting the Silver Conference and blowing the place up? It has, from its own perspective, a valid reason to kill thousands people."

Blaine crossed his arms. "What's your point?"

Elm rubbed his temples and sighed. "You probably don't want to hear this, but since that battle between Mewtwo and Suicune proved that it's not invulnerable. If we ask help from Lance, Morty and others from the Legendary Pokémon Society we could – I mean, our only choice might be to destroy it once and for all!"

Blaine stared at Elm with his arms crossed quietly for a long time, waiting for him to put his glasses on. Elm clearly didn't want to look at Blaine directly, even if his eyes were always hidden behind his shades. Reluctantly, Elm went back to his notes, all the while feeling Blaine's stare in his neck.

Finally, Blaine spoke, but not in the gruff away he usually did. "I can't do that," he said quietly, prompting Elm to look at him. "I'm not proud of how that project turned out, but it's the only thing I have done that I can be proud of: I created life. If you try to do anything to destroy it... I'll have to hurt you myself."

Elm shook his head. "Let's just try to find a way to depower it first," he said. "There has to be one – everything has a weakness."

This prompted a brief smile from Blaine. "And nothing is impossible."

"That's right, now let's get – uh oh," Elm said and looked up from his notes as Lyra walked over to where Kris and Leaf were studying, exchanging some words with Kris that didn't quite reach Elm's ears, but Elm could guess what they were. "You think we have to separate those two before they tear down the lab?"

"I'd say let them vent, but save their worst for the tournament," Blaine observed. "I don't know their history, but I can sense that both want to surpass the other. Inside both of them is a raging fire that yearns to get out and scorch their enemies. It's a good thing we have these tournaments – it gives people and Pokémon the chance to test their skills as warriors peacefully."

Elm laughed nervously. "Aren't you being a little over-dramatic there?"

"Not at all!" Blaine said seriously. "You might be too young to understand, but there may come a time when we need warriors and leaders. Who's to say young Kris and Lyra couldn't become such in the future?"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Thursday** _

As it got past six PM, Blaine finally let Kris have the rest of the day off, but not before having her battle him. Yet again, Kris suffered a defeat, though she liked to think that it wasn't as crushing as Tuesday's one. Really, it wasn't that bad to lose to Blaine, a veteran gym leader, or Iris, a trainer with six badges, but Wednesday's loss to Leaf stung. Kris had taken her for a theory-oriented, outdoors-avoiding nerd, but she beat two of Kris' Pokémon with just one of hers in less time than Iris.

Unfortunately, even if Blaine had given her the evening off, one of Kris' most toughest challenges was yet ahead. Something so horrible that nothing in the world could have prepared her for it.

"Thanks for the dinner invitation, Mrs..." Iris said and paused when no one filled her in. "Well, thanks!"

"Well, it's been years since she actually brought anyone home," Kris' mom said as she passed Iris a bowl of rice. "I assumed she was socially dead by now. Imagine my surprise coming home from the seminar and finding someone other than her in the house."

Kris just sat awkwardly between the two, focused on getting through her food as quickly as possible to avoid enduring another second of this.

"So, why hasn't Lyra been over, Kris?" Kris' mom inquired. "I remember her actually being a polite, respectful girl."

"I-" Kris started.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Kris, it's disgusting," Kris' mom said and took a sip of wine. "Unfortunately, Iris, dear old dad couldn't be here today since he's off Arceus knows where."

"Oh," Iris could only say. "Um, I'm-"

"So, Kris, why are you home again?" Kris' mom asked curiously. "I didn't have time to clear out the basement yet. I would have thought you'd have found a place of your own already."

"I'm not 18 yet, mom," Kris grumbled, eyes on her food.

"I _know_ that, Kris, I am your mother after all. And weren't you taught to make eye contact while talking? I was merely saying that you were the one so insistent on heading out to the world without even a farewell note and forcing me to get a second-hand notification from professor Elm – I assumed that was your way of saying you didn't want to live under my roof and drain my food supplies anymore."

Iris glanced at Kris, but didn't want to make an issue and quickly tried to veer to another subject: "Um, so, Mrs. C, where do you work, exactly?"

"Goodness, Kris didn't tell you yet?" Kris' mom wondered and briefly glanced at Kris accusingly.

"Um, well, she said a lot of good things about you-"

"I didn't," Kris muttered.

"-while we were traveling, but we didn't travel _together_ all this time," Iris rattled quickly. "I've been helping out professor Elm instead."

"Well, my workplace is in Cherrygrove, where I do a lot of administrative work, mainly inspecting the local farms to see if they're up to Pokémon Association standards," Kris' mom said proudly, still eyeing Kris on occasion. "I tried to tell Kris that she could have had a secured, lucrative future in that, but even now, practically as an adult, she spends all her time daydreaming about being some kind of vaguely defined 'Pokémon master'."

"Not _all_ my time," Kris corrected.

"I don't want you being a smartass, Kris," Kris' mom scolded. "What will people say when they see you acting like that?"

"Why should I care about that?" Kris wondered, not even bothering to hide the disgust in her tone.

"Um, your house is great," Iris said awkwardly, but went ignored.

"We have guests over, Kris! For once, you should try to behave and keep your remarks to yourself."

"You don't even know her, mom! You don't even care who she is! All you care about is putting a 'proper' appearance."

"Oh, so you think you know me so well? You think that's ' _all_ ' I care about? I raised you, clothed you, fed you and kept you under my roof for almost eighteen years and this is how you thank me?!"

"...this food is really good," Iris said barely audibly.

The argument was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell, and both Kris and her mom yelled 'COME IN!' at the same time. The arrival was a somewhat dazed professor Elm, wearing casual clothes for probably the first time Kris remembered, bringing a bottle of wine and some dessert with him, but didn't seem to want to cross the threshold of the kitchen.

"Um, is this is a bad time?" he asked.

"No, professor, I invited you, after all, though you could have come here a _bit_ sooner," Kris' mom replied tensely.

"Sorry," Elm said. "Busy day at the lab."

"How's that different from normal?" Kris wondered.

" _Behave_ , Kris!"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Friday** _

After another exhausting morning of kendo practice with Blaine, Kris was more than happy to take off her armor and change back to her normal clothes, figuring she could at least sit down for a while at the lab, perhaps pretend to be studying so Blaine wouldn't give her a hard time about 'slacking off'.

But as Kris was about to climb the stairs up into the lab, someone else was on her way down.

"Oh, hey, Kris!" said Lyra as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "Did you get exhausted already?"

"Did you really have to come all the way here to ask me that?" Kris shot back.

"No, I was going to hit the gym that Dr. Blaine had set up," Lyra said smugly. "He promised to help me with my training."

_That bastard!_

"Less than three days left," Lyra said, as if Kris hadn't already realized that. "Are you nervous? Scared? Mortified?"

Kris glared.

"Aghast?" Lyra suggested.

"Stop throwing synonyms at me!" Kris snapped. "I'm fine. You may have twice the amount of badges I have, but I have something you'll _never_ have!"

"...what?" Lyra wondered.

"...you know, I didn't think that line through," Kris admitted sheepishly. "I've just heard it so many times and you _never_ get a chance to use that in real life, usually."

Lyra tilted her head and just observed Kris, who was unnerved by this. It wasn't a look of hostility or smug superiority, just curiosity, which annoyed Kris – she wanted to get at least some comebacks in.

 _Trash-talking is the only thing I haven't practiced yet_.

"You say you really have become stronger," Lyra mused as she looked at Kris from head to toe – now Kris was _really_ being unnerved. "I really hope so. But have you given your all for this training?"

"Of course I have," Kris said automatically.

"You sure about that?" Lyra asked. "You remember that time you broke your arms? I mean, when you were stupid and reckless enough to do that."

Kris frowned. She hadn't though about those days in a while. But she didn't have to think too hard about it, either.

"Sure," Kris said. "I remember."

"You told me that a Pokémon trainer is lost without their hands," Lyra reminisced. "You can command your Pokémon without words, observe the battlefield without eyes, be there for your Pokémon even if you can't stand, but without hands, you can't throw a ball, or give signals to you Pokémon. So you wanted to train to make sure losing an arm wouldn't stop you. Have you done that yet?"

"...why do you even care?!" Kris snapped. "And that was a long time ago. All I want to do is to humiliate you in the Silver Conference – I don't care what happens after that!"

Lyra sighed and shrugged. "Okay, then. But promise me something."

"What?"

"When that time comes, if we truly get to face each other in the Silver Conference, then don't even think about holding back! Because I already promised to do the same to you."


	17. Once Upon a Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exploring the histories of Kris, Lyra, Iris, Leaf and Silver and how their past made them what they are today

It was a late Friday evening, Kris' mom being thankfully out somewhere. Kris lay on her bed, still awake but covering her eyes with her arm, trying to prevent her headache from getting any worse. Iris, who sat next to her on the edge of the bed, had tried to offer her words of encouragement and empathy, but when those were either met with hostility or just fell on deaf ears, she went to watching TV instead.

"All right, one of my favorite shows is on!" Iris cheered and turned up the volume. "No, wait – oh, great, it's one of those flashback episodes."

"You mean clip shows?" Kris muttered.

Iris looked behind her, glad to see Kris was still awake. "No, like, they reveal some irrelevant stuff about the characters' past, which especially sucks because there was a cool cliffhanger last time. Stupid cop-out..."

**Chapter Seventeen: _Once Upon A Time_**

"Are you feeling better now?" Iris asked. "I don't have to watch this show now, we can go to bed if you want..."

"Nah, I'm not sleepy, anyway," Kris mumbled. "I was just thinking."

"Can I finally ask about what?" Iris asked carefully. "You're not gonna snap at me again, are you?"

"I don't 'snap', I-" Kris snapped, but stopped halfway through. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"It takes a lot more than _that_ to upset me," Iris laughed. "But what's been troubling you?"

"I met Lyra earlier today," Kris said.

"She's been at the lab since Wednesday," Iris pointed out.

"I mean – I talked to her alone for the first time since coming back. And she reminded me of something."

"Speaking of, what exactly is going on between you two?" Iris wondered, turning the volume of the TV down a bit. "Your stories are all over the place. You tell me she's not your friend, you tell me she _was_ your friend, and now you act like you've hated each other forever. I tried asking her about it-"

"What, you two are BFF's now?" Kris asked immediately.

Iris sighed. "Get a hold of yourself," she said. "We battled, we talked, she seems pretty nice. I mean, she _is_ kind of weird, but considering I spend all my days with people like Blaine and y- others, well, you get used to it. I can't see why you have to keep tormenting yourself when she obviously isn't _that_ bad."

"Well, you're wrong," Kris said simply. "She's a jerk and I hate her, that's all you need to know.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Kris & Lyra** _

_**Six years from present day** _

"Kris!" Lyra greeted enthusiastically, standing near the porch of her house and watching as Kris walked over.

"Lyra!" Kris greeted back.

The two hugged each other, Kris almost tackling Lyra down in the process. It had only been two weeks, but for them, it may as well have been two years. Moreover, today was an important day for them – Professor Elm, the young scientist who had opened a laboratory in New Bark Town just a year ago, had agreed to let Kris and Lyra help him in his research involving Pokémon eggs and Pokémon evolution. Even though they weren't going past the beginning of Route 29, they treated it like an important assignment.

"So how are they doing?" Kris asked Lyra as the duo left the borders of New Bark Town and stepped into the 'wilderness' – i.e. a forest path with joggers, hikers and Pokémon trainers frequently passing by. "Is your grandpa really retiring?"

"Yup, but mom says it was bound to happen soon," Lyra said cheerfully. "He and gran are still gonna keep active, though. They're going to turn their house into a Pokémon Daycare."

"Awesome!" Kris said. "Did you have fun?"

"Hmmmyeahh," Lyra vocalized, probably unsure what it meant herself. "I mean, it was nice to see them, but they were busy with their house all the time. I was so bored."

Lyra's face lit up suddenly.

"But next time I go, I can ask mom if you can come with me!" she said excitedly. "I mean, gran said that the next time I come, the Daycare will be ready! So we'll have all those Pokémon to play with."

Kris was about to respond, but Lyra chattered on, as if realizing something herself.

"Oh, but your mom probably won't let you," Lyra speculated. "Or, in this case, maybe she will, to get you out of the house for once, right?"

Kris frowned at Lyra, initially unsure if she should respond with a biting comeback or not. But the expression on Lyra's face was an earnest, wide-eyed smile when she had said that, so Kris couldn't help but to smile herself.

"Don't ever change, Lyra," she remarked.

Lyra was puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

On Route 29, Kris and Lyra finally found the tree that they were looking for, hearing chirping from a branch near the top of the tree. It had to be a Pidgey nest, with the eggs ready to hatch, but professor Elm wanted pictures and possible video footage of it, while also stressing not to disturb the nest.

"So how exactly are we going to get up there?" Lyra wondered as she prepared the camera and gave it to Kris, who let it hang on her neck.

"Uh, climb, duh!" Kris said. "Off you go, then!"

"Me?!" Lyra squealed and looked up at the nest, her neck not bending far enough for her to do it properly. "But it's so high – I want to help, but I thought we'd be getting a ladder or something."

Kris sighed. "All right, I'll do it," she said and gently pushed Lyra aside. "But once we bring the footage back to the professor, we'll stress that _I_ was the one who climbed up."

Kris started climbing the tree, one of the few things she had always been good at. Using the small, but sturdy branches as handles and footholds, she slowly made her way towards the top of the tree. Lyra made some quiet noises of resistance on the ground, but Kris was determined to get the footage. Finally getting to the topmost branch, she was bummed to find out she couldn't reach the nest without putting her whole body on the branch, and she was far too heavy for it. Leaning on the branch with her elbow, she used her hands to fiddle with camera, wondering if she could zoom in on the nest from her spot.

"Kris!" Lyra yelled from the ground.

"Yeah, I'm coming down, just wait a minute!" Kris shouted. "I'm almost at the nest!"

"-branch – standing on!"

"Yeah, cool!" Kris replied, not really catching what Lyra had yelled. "You can borrow it!"

"-the branch you're standing on!" Lyra warned. "It's going to snap!"

"Say what?"

That was the last thing Kris got to say before she heard a threatening crunching sound from the branch she stood on, and soon enough, it snapped. Leaning forward and her hands still holding the camera, Kris fell headfirst towards the ground, Lyra yelling her name as she fell.

During that brief moment, Kris only had time to think how she was certainly going to die.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Present day, Saturday morning** _

Obviously, that didn't happen.

Kris was sitting with a book on her lap in professor Elm's lab. She was supposed to study, but instead she stared out of the window, watching Lyra and Leaf having a practice battle out on the yard. With Iris having gone to Cherrygrove to check out their local library and Blaine having insisted on escorting her, it was just Kris and Elm in the lab.

Elm was too busy with one of his many projects to pay attention on Kris' studying, or lack thereof, and Kris was bored out of her skull.

"Say, professor," Kris said. "In case I don't get Croc to listen to me, you don't happen to have any extra Pokémon about I could, say, borrow for the conference, hm?"

"I have Pokémon here in the lab, but no, er, extras," Elm said absentmindedly as he worked on his thing that Kris couldn't see. "Why don't you ask Iris to borrow you one? She's not taking part."

"It wouldn't feel right," Kris complained. "I already did that when I got my first badge – and I hate to admit it, but her Excadrill was the biggest reason I even got it, not that Shrew didn't also fight incredibly well, even while wounded. It's a matter of pride! Hers are already strong – if I borrow one of yours, I could still do some quick training and call it my own work."

Elm shook his head, though he smiled while doing it and looked at Kris. "Isn't the most important thing to have a good time? Not many people get to compete in that, you know?"

"Well now you sound like I've lost already," Kris grumbled.

"Remember, this, Kris," Elm lectured with his finger raised academically. "Um, it's not about the destination, it's about the-"

" _Don't say journey_!"

"Um... about the things that led to you destination," Elm said. "Um, what I'm trying to say is, to get past a challenge laid for you by the finest trainers in Johto is as good as getting eight badges yourself, with much more danger involved. You should be proud of yourself! Sure, you didn't do it _yourself_ technically, but, um, I'm sure you were an integral part of the proceedings-"

"Just stop," Kris interrupted harshly.

Elm adjusted his glasses nervously. "Um, how about this," he suggested and finally showed Kris what he was studying: an indigo-colored Pokémon egg, and quite large one at that, much bigger than the ones she had seen in Pidgey nests. "Once this egg hatches, I promise you can have whatever Pokémon is inside."

"Well, that's something," Kris said. "What is it?"

"Um, I'm not sure."

"When will it hatch?"

"I... am not sure."

"How long has it been since it was laid?"

"...you know, I'm not quite-"

"Forget it," Kris groaned. "I'll figure something out. I'll make Croc listen and respect me as a licensed Pokémon trainer even if it kills – um, wounds me!"

Kris looked outside. Leaf and Lyra were still battling. From her own battle with Leaf, Kris had gauged her abilities as definitely above-average, but the real question was, how did she get so strong? Was she trained by the Masked Man? And what did she have to endure there?

**~o~O~o~**

_**Leaf** _

_**Five years from present day** _

Somewhere in the wilderness, on the other side of the Lake of Rage was an abandoned old wooden mansion, the road leading there long since overgrown with vegetation, trees hiding the mansion from sight, the grass on the yard having grown long and crawling with poison and bug Pokémon.

But while abandoned, the mansion was far from unused. In the basement, eight children of varying ages stood at attention, all of their faces covered by a mask of different color. The youngest of the children was only 12 years old, the oldest being 17, having grown a reputation as the one whom everyone had to listen or else. Her word was only eclipsed by one other person, the man the children were to know as the Masked Man.

Once again, as the Masked Man entered the basement, the children shivered from the cold sensation that filled the room. Like the children, the Masked Man wore a mask, a light blue one that entirely covered his face, while the masks of the children only covered the top half. The Masked Man also wore a flowing black cloak, had long, puffy white hair and his voice was modified, with a reverberation effect employed to make it sound like his voice echoed from every direction.

" _Good afternoon, my friends_ ," the Masked Man announced. " _You all know the reason you're here._ _Your minds have been poisoned by adults, ones who have betrayed you and treated you as inferior beings. You no longer have to be burdened by their world: in my protection, you have the pleasure to be do whatever you want._ _Today, we have_ _a new member in our midst. Number_ _eight_ _has joined our merry group all the way from Kanto._ "

The Masked Man gestured in the direction of a 13-year old girl with long brown hair at the front row, her gloved hands shaking slightly, wearing a black mask.

" _To avoid disrupting the harmony we have managed to maintain in our midst, we shall pair number eight will number_ _three_ _,_ _who has for now had to mostly stay in the base and tra_ _i_ _n with me._ "

The Masked Man then pointed at the youngest boy in the room, who had long red hair and a gray mask covering his face.

" _Three_ _and eight, your_ _first target will be the gatehouse near the lake._ _Should it, say, burn down, there would be less traffic to the lake and less of a chance for the adults of Johto to hunt us down and stop us from having our fun. Get to it_."

Numbers 3 and 8 obeyed, never exchanging a word unless necessary, but spending weeks together, first spilling lighter fluid near the gatehouse at Route 43, burning down it and almost a large chunk of the forest. Soon, they were given more and more remote assignments, ranging from vandalism and petty theft to robberies, extortion and acts of terror as the Masked Man taught them various arts, from picking locks to building makeshift explosives. The few times when all eight children were together was when they were made to fight one another, the Masked Man teaching them martial arts skills and even rudimentary Pokémon battling, though making sure none of the children would ever own Pokémon, but rather attempt to command using Pokémon the Masked Man owned or had caught from the wild.

This went on for another year, the Masked Man all the while striking children for daring to use their real names. All humanity had been purged from the children by forcing them to keep quiet and separate and by brainwashing them to accept the Masked Man's words. They were taught to avoid emotions such as empathy for both human and Pokémon victims of their crimes.

But when number one, the now 18-year old girl and the Masked Man's favorite, was busy training with the Mask himself one day, her replacement was observing the children, but was far less vigilant than one had been.

Even after a year of forcing to commit petty crimes, number eight would never forget that she was Leaf from Pewter City, and that she had waited for the opportune moment to end at least one person's suffering.

Number three, the red-haired boy, had curled into a corner, biting his nails and staring into a distance. Leaf slowly approached him, occasionally stopping and looking away whenever she thought number two was looking. Finally, Leaf managed to get within whispering distance, hoping that the darkness of the basement would hide her lips' movements.

"Psst," Leaf told number three. "You, I need to talk to you."

"We're not allowed to talk," the boy said instantly, without even looking at Leaf. "Go away. You'll get us both into trouble."

"I chose this day for a precise purpose," Leaf muttered, looking into another direction to make it look like she and three weren't even talking. "What's your name?"

"Number thr-"

"Your _real_ name."

"Doesn't matter," the boy said quickly, stopping to bite his hand. "I shouldn't even think about it! The Masked Man said no!"

"Are you going to listen to him forever?" Leaf asked. "He promised that we could be free to do whatever we want, and yet he keeps us locked in here, only letting us out when _he_ likes it."

"He wants to protect us from the adults," the boy said evenly. "He promised to."

"He _is_ an adult, and he's been forcing us to do horrible things without us even realizing it. Maybe some of these kids think it's just a game, but I don't. I've seen the faces of the people we did bad things to. They don't deserve it, just like we don't deserve to be kept in here."

Number three stopped biting his nails, but was clearly reluctant to turn and look at Leaf. Glancing at two, who was pushing what seemed to be number six around, asserting the little authority he had, Leaf sat next to number three.

"My name isn't number eight, it's Leaf," she told the boy. "What's yours?"

The boy just sat still, shaking and breathing heavily. Leaf wondered exactly how long had he been made to stay there, and he was younger than her. Leaf touched his shoulder gently, but he quickly swatted her hand away and looked away from her.

"We're not supposed to talk," he said again.

"Your _name_ ," Leaf stressed. "You had a name before you came here. And you lived somewhere. Did you come from Johto or some other place?"

"C-Cherrygrove City," the boy said quietly. "I-I don't like my name."

"It has to be better than _number three_ ," Leaf pointed out.

The boy seemed to agree, and seemed to calm down a little. "Silver," he said with a slight stutter. "They called me Silver."

"I like it," Leaf said bluntly. "Silver, even with the mask on, I saw how you reacted when we stole those Pokémon from the Daycare Center. I know you don't like hurting Pokémon, and I don't want to hurt them _or_ people, even adults. It's true me and my family don't always get along, but I still want to see them. Don't you have someone you want to see back in Cherrygrove?"

"No," Silver said quietly. "I don't have anyone."

Leaf was starting to understand – it was true that one and some others had come there voluntarily. Leaf personally had a bad argument with her mother before all this and was approached by the Masked Man. Against her better judgment, she had followed him to his mansion, but after being forced to wear a mask and stop using her real name, she had asked to leave – only to be made clear that there was no way out. The Masked Man had hit her for daring to suggest so, and even if it hadn't been very hard, the place where he hit felt like bad frostbite for days.

Still, now she knew his name. And she knew that he wanted out of that place. _Someone_ other than her had to get out of there.

"There has to be something you want to do besides work for that guy," Leaf told Silver. "Think: haven't you ever dreamed about something?"

"...yes," Silver admitted after some considering. "P-Pokémon trainer. I always wanted to be one. I asked the Masked Man if I could have a Pokémon, but he refused. When I asked if I could keep one of those we suh... that we s-stole, he h-hit me."

"Why would you want to help someone like that?" Leaf asked gently.

"I don't," Silver muttered. "But I have to. I can't do anything else."

"No, you can," Leaf argued. "And we're going to get you that Pokémon. Just like I'm going to continue my studies soon enough!"

Leaf gently touched Silver's hand. Though both of them were wearing gloves, Silver seemed to appreciate the gesture, and didn't swat her hand away this time. Slowly, he turned to look at Leaf, who could clearly see his eyes shining behind the mask.

"I want to leave," he said quietly. "I don't want to be here anymore."

"How long have you have been here?" Leaf asked. "For me, it has been almost a year."

"Um... I don't know," Silver admitted and started counting with his fingers. "It must have been... three winters. Three years."

Leaf felt her stomach churn. A boy had been here since he was _ten_? Almost all the other children were about Leaf's age or slightly older. Since Leaf had arrived, numbers four and five had vanished to places unknown, the Masked Man having replaced them with numbers nine, ten and eleven. How many more children would have to suffer in his hands?

Leaf knew he could have trouble adjusting, but _someone_ had to miss him. If he didn't have a family, he must have at least have a foster family or he had to be from an orphanage, and someone had to have report him missing. And he was still young – there were services to take care of him and at least give him a happy adolescence.

"You know what I think?" Leaf asked, her voice quivering a little. "I think that's three years too much. Here."

Making sure to cover what she was doing by turning her back towards the other kids, most of whom just sat around apathetically, Leaf passed Silver a small zipper-lock plastic bag with reddish-brown liquid inside.

"I've sneaked into the kitchen a few times – the food they've given us just isn't enough to keep me alert," Leaf murmured.

Silver nodded. "I've done that a few times, too."

"While raiding the kitchen cupboards, I found some vinegar," Leaf said, nodding at the bag. "And some baking soda as well. Now, ask if you can go to the bathroom and put a some warm water in the bag to fill it."

Silver hid the plastic bag in his pocket and walked over to two, who mocked Silver and pushed him around for a bit, but eventually escorted him to the bathroom – he was successful enough to get such privileges. When he returned, Leaf noticed the determined but subtle way he returned to Leaf, brushing past her gently and handing the plastic bag to her, allowing Leaf to hide it under her shirt.

Silver returned to his corner without two even batting an eye, while Leaf walked directly into the center of the room. She nodded at Silver just slightly, and Silver responded by getting up and changing into another spot a little closer to the door.

Leaf looked at two, who was taunting the newest and smallest one of the bunch, number eleven, using his henchman seven for the job as well. Leaf was disgusted. The two were in the same situation as the rest, but didn't hesitate to act just like their captor when given the chance. Together, all the others could have taken them down, but the Masked Man had made sure to break their spirits, and one was a threat of her own as well.

Inhaling deep, Leaf started whistling and humming loudly, prompting the others to look at her – unnecessary talking and other such sounds had been expressly forbidden.

"Boy, it's a sweaty day today," Leaf remarked casually and loudly, though not loudly as to alert the Masked Man, knowing he and one were currently upstairs. "Say, don't any of you ever get tired of wearing these masks? Especially on a hot summer day like this. What is it, July? August? You really lose the track of time here."

"Hey, shut up, eight!" two yelled at her. "One gave me permission to beat up anyone who causes trouble!"

"Trouble?" Leaf said innocently. "Just making conversation. It gets so boring when there's no new assignments for any of us. But I guess he can't have us be out in the open too often. Doing crime _does_ attract attention – and don't you think there are people out looking for us? You know, people who care? Unlike that masked prick!"

The room became dead silent, all eyes focused on Leaf. As she did so, Silver inched himself right next to the door, which two hadn't locked after escorting Silver to the bathroom, managing to open it silently.

"Okay, eight, you asked for it!" two said and rolled up his sleeves dramatically. "And when I'm done, I'll be sure to tell Mr. Mask about you atti-"

"Say, we all steal stuff from the kitchen once in a while, right?" Leaf asked the whole room. "Come on, admit it, we have to – the way he feeds us, it's like he _wants_ us to be weak. I haven't experienced much of the _fun_ he promised us, have you?"

"Eight," two said menacingly. "Did you just admit to stealing food? The Masked Man will deal with you himself for this."

"Oh, lighten up," Leaf said and took out the plastic bag along with a folded paper towel. "Here, do you like vinegar and baking soda?"

"The hell are you talking ab-"

"Well, not for eating," Leaf clarified. "But you know what they do when you mix 'em?"

Two and seven just glared, the smaller seven skulking behind his larger 'friend'. Having opened the door, Silver now slowly walked towards Leaf.

"Hey, I have a better idea!" two said as he saw Silver approaching. "Three! You want to join us in the winner's circle? Why don't you teach her a thing or two about respecting our master!"

Leaf kept her eyes on two as she slightly opened the bag and dropped the folded paper towel in – fizzing and bubbles ensued immediately.

"Do you want to see what happens?" Leaf asked. "Take a good look."

As two and seven charged at Leaf, she shook the bag and tossed it straight at two's face, the bag popping open and splattering its contents on both of the two. Together, with everyone gasping at what they've done, Leaf and Silver ran out of the room and into the hallway outside. Silver easily kept up with Leaf's pace as she opened random doors along the hallway but didn't go into any of them. Finally, she led Silver into the pantry where meager supplies of food were kept in.

Closing and locking the pantry door behind her, Leaf dashed to one of the cupboards and opened it. The level where kitchen supplies were normally kept was empty, a person easily fitting inside. Silver was confused, but as Leaf prompted him, he obediently crawled inside. Leaf managed to fit herself inside with Silver just barely, but when she knocked on the back wall of the cupboard, it gave in, revealing a hidden access to one of a dank storage room with no doors leading to it. Silver and Leaf crawled in, Leaf closing the cupboard door and putting the wall back up, allowing the two to finally catch her breath, though they heard muffled shouting and footsteps through the walls, knowing that the other rooms were being checked.

"What is this place?" Silver whispered.

"Secret food storage where one, two and seven keep most of the supplies," Leaf muttered, keeping her voice as low as possible. "They know we steal food and want to make sure they get the most."

"And how do we get out?" Silver wondered.

Leaf sneaked over to a pile of unopened boxes of both dry and canned food, moving them aside to reveal a large hole in the wall. It appeared the walls were mostly hollow.

Silver stared at Leaf, who just shrugged and smiled.

"Let's just say I've been planning this for a while," she said quietly. "There's plenty of room in the inner wall because I think this room was mostly an afterthought. Whoever owned this place before wanted to hide something in here. We can use it to crawl upstairs – I don't think I could have fitted in there when I first came in, but after a year of this... though it still won't be comfy for either of us.

To illustrate her point, Leaf went on her knees and crawled between the walls, even managing to stand up. Silver followed suit, though it became very uncomfortable as they both stood in the crawlspace, their shoulders pushing against each other, both of them hearing the other's breathing.

"Now, I want you trust me on this," Leaf whispered as she looked up.

Silver looked too – there was definitely light coming from there. Could they really get into the ground floor through it?

"Lift me up there so I can scan the area," Leaf continued. "Then I'll pull you up."

Silver looked bothered, unsure what to do. Leaf responded by pulling off her black mask, revealing her blue eyes and the large shadows under them, Silver believing he wasn't in any better shape. Silver returned the favor by pulling off his own mask, allowing Leaf to properly see his piercing, gray eyes.

As Leaf nodded at him, Silver crouched as well as he could, not being able to turn around in the crawlspace, making a cup with his hands and allowing Leaf to step on them. He lifted her up easily, Leaf using the narrow space to her advantage as she used her elbows to climb up. Apparently there weren't any spectators, as Leaf climbed up and disappeared from sight.

For a moment, Silver wondered if he'd be stuck between the walls forever, but the Leaf's hands and smiling face appeared above him. Silver grabbed her hands with his own and put his legs between the two walls, boosting himself up as Leaf pulled.

The two were now in a dark, unused bedroom in the first floor, the doors having been boarded up from the inside as well as probably outside. But there was a window through which some light got in. It was late afternoon, the sun about to set, though it was impossible to know when you were stuck in the basement. Leaf and Silver flattened themselves against the wall on both side of the window, Leaf peeking outside.

"They're out there," she whispered. "Probably thinking we left the house already – oh no. One is there."

Two and seven were joined by one, the 18-year old blonde-haired girl with a white mask who was known for her viciousness. Whenever no one was looking, the kids would usually exchange stories about what the Masked Man had forced one to do. They sounded unbelievable, but as most of them had been beaten up by her at least once, they weren't going to start doubting them.

"Can you swim?" Leaf asked Silver quietly.

"Yes," he said, and after some hesitation, added: "But not well. There's a beach back in Cherrygrove, but I didn't go there often."

"You need my help, just say so, then," Leaf muttered. "There's a river on the edge of the yard. We could probably make it there from here if we run fast enough. The river probably connects to the Lake of Rage, so if we follow it, we'll find a way out. We should dive in and swim until there's enough cover for us to come up for air and get back on land."

"...how long have you been planning this again?" Silver wondered. "And why didn't you do this yourself?"

Leaf wasn't sure how to answer that. Just thinking about the remaining children who had probably been locked into the basement after their escape made her stomach go on a knot. But she knew that she couldn't have gotten all of them out, and if there's someone who deserved to get away, it was Silver.

And, in truth, Leaf wouldn't have made it alone. Not because she couldn't have taken two on by herself, but because she had never properly gotten used to being by herself. And the trip to the lake would most likely be long – she needed someone to rely on even after getting out, having no idea how far the Masked Man would pursue them.

"On three, we push the windows open," Leaf whispered, avoiding the question as she slowly turned the window's handle. "One... two... three!"

With one, two and seven as far away as possible, Leaf and Silver slammed the windows open and jumped out into the thick grass below. As expected, they were quickly noticed, so they didn't stop but ran madly towards the river. Their former names were being yelled loudly, but Leaf didn't care. She felt Silver running beside her, focusing solely on their only means of escape. She heard the yelling of the Masked Man echo from nearby, but put it out of her mind as she ran. She was no longer number eight, but Leaf Greene. And she was free.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Kris & Lyra** _

_**Six years from present day** _

The doctor escorted Kris to Lyra and professor Elm, who had been waiting nervously. Weary from the painkillers and feeling too ashamed to talk, Kris had been utterly quiet, one of her arms placed in a cast while the other had a splint and a bandage applied to it. The doctor explained she had fractures on her right shoulder and left elbow, requiring six weeks of recovery until the cast and splint could be removed and an extra six weeks of using the arms for as little as possible.

But worse than admitting her screwup to Kris and Lyra was the rage of her mother as she returned from the vending machine, yelling at Kris so that the whole waiting room heard, ranting about how she had to get away from work and how she would have to take leave to be with Kris now that she was recovering, calling her irresponsible, stupid and worse things. Professor Elm tried to smooth things out and assure Kris' mom that she got hurt while helping him and that he would take responsibility, both him and Lyra agreeing to help out every once in a while.

When six weeks had passed and Kris could finally let her arms and hands be free, even if she couldn't use them much, she took the opportunity to lounge on the back yard and not have to worry about being shouted about 'putting the family in financial ruin' on account of her injury. What made her even happier was the arrival of Lyra, who had visited almost every day after Kris had hurt herself.

"Hey, you're outside!" she said as she skipped over to Kris.

"Your eyesight continues to impress me," Kris said, but smiled anyway. "Thanks for coming."

"Well, I didn't want you to sit in your little basement and stare at the wall like you end up doing so often," Lyra said bluntly. "How does it feel?"

"Hurts a bit every once in a while, but it's not too bad," Kris said. "I'd start doing stuff with them if the doctor hadn't told me not to."

"Stuff?"

"Anything that's not just sitting down," Kris clarified. She sighed when she tried to lift her arms properly, which caused them to hurt again. "You remember when we said we were going to become Pokémon masters?"

"You still want to, right?" Lyra asked in concern.

"Of course," Kris said. "But I'm not going to be any use without my arms. I can't throw a Poké Ball, or give signals to my Pokémon if I break them, or lose them, or something happens to them. A Pokémon Trainer is lost without them – or so they say. Do you see that Poké Ball over there?"

Lyra looked at the empty Poké Ball on the ground. Kris got up, kept her arms tense and motionless by her sides and used her feet to take off her shoes and socks. Then, she walked over to the Poké Ball and attempted to lift with her feet. It took a while, as the ground was wet after yesterday's rain and the Poké Ball's surface was too smooth. Kris dropped it many times, but after a few minutes of struggling and Lyra staring at it, Kris lifted the Poké Ball up with her foot, standing on one foot precariously.

Kris didn't maintain her balance on one foot for long, so Lyra quickly rushed over and caught her before she fell. Quietly thanking Lyra, Kris regained her balance and bent her foot so the Poké Ball would stay still.

"What are you doing?" Lyra wondered.

"When I was recovering, I was able to do some reading," Kris said through gritted teeth, focusing all her energy on keeping her balance. "This is an old way of training – a person's lower body is stronger than their upper body, and Pokémon trainers who defended their homes against criminals, soldiers and wild Pokémon found out they got a better result if they kicked their Poké Balls instead of throwing them. Which is why..."

With a swift, smooth motion, Kris tossed the Poké Ball with her foot, but lost her balance immediately after, forcing Lyra to catch her, not wanting to think what falling would do to her injured arms. The Poké Ball flew a few yards forward, hitting one of the trees on the yard and cracking open.

"Wow," Lyra observed. "I thought you'd fail."

"I was aiming for that rock further away," Kris grumbled. "But yeah, that went better than I thought. And thanks."

"Well, if I hadn't caught you, they'd probably have to add six more weeks to your recovering time," Lyra said. "You'd really hate that."

"Not just that," Kris said. "I mean... thanks for earlier. Professor Elm told me you helped me walk back to New Bark Town and had Elm call an ambulance for me. I guess I passed out."

"Well, you were hurt pretty bad," Lyra said nonchalantly. "And you kept screaming bad words and insulting pretty much everyone. I guess all that made you a bit delirious. I mean, the doctor told me that there was a chance of a chip coming off your bone and doing nasty internal damage, that's just-"

"Why didn't you tell me, though?" Kris interrupted quickly.

Lyra shrugged. "Eh, it wasn't a big deal, it's not like I would have left you there. You'd have done that to me. I mean, you would have complained about having better things to do and called me stupid for falling, but still."

Kris laughed a bit, which just made Lyra frown in confusion. With Lyra's help, Kris climbed back on her feet.

"I need to try that a couple more times," Kris said. "Will you be there to catch me? I don't want mom to yell at me again, plus I think after I do this for a while, I won't fall over anymore."

"Sure," Lyra said. "You really are serious about this, huh? You're usually a lot more lazy."

By now, Kris had learned to take remarks like that as well-meaning.

"Yeah, it's funny, once I have an excuse to be lazy, I get bored," Kris said. "Plus I really want to become strong. When I'm 17 and school is over for us, I'll apply for a trainer's license, maybe even try to get into Earl's Pokémon Academy. And by then, I don't have to care about mom not letting me do it. Who knows... the Silver Conference is next year, right? Do you remember where they're holding it?"

"Umm – oh, Sinnoh, I think!" Lyra said. "We'll get to see Cynthia battle! She's so glamorous!"

"And a fantastic battler," Kris said. "But then it's going to be another five years, and who knows – they might have the next Conference in Kanto, or even Johto! Hell, that's where the very first one was!"

"It was?"

"Um, yeah, Mt. Silver, duh!"

"Does that mean – you think you can get in?" Lyra asked. "They're really selective, you have to apply early, the process is long and annoying and I don't think you can afford signing up as a contestant. And I doubt you'll have time to get all eight badges of Johto before that."

"You just watch me," Kris said.

And Lyra did, being close by to catch Kris and watching her get the empty Poké Ball, closing it and once again struggling to pick it up with her feet. Once again, she used her foot to toss it in the air, this time getting to fly a yard or two longer – though Lyra had to catch Kris again.

"Well now I kinda feel bad," Lyra remarked as she helped Kris stand up.

"Why?" Kris wondered.

"You've been so studious, and now you're here training even though you're supposed to rest," Lyra said quietly. "I haven't exactly been studying _or_ training this time. I haven't even helped Elm, because I wanted to wait for..."

"What?" Kris asked.

"Umm – for the rain to stop!" Lyra said quickly. "When we become Pokémon trainers – can you help me out?"

"Uh, sure," Kris said with a shrug. "But you'll have time to catch up, though. Don't you want to compete in the Silver Conference, too?"

"Sure, if I can get in," Lyra said. "But if I do, and we end up battling each other... I'm not going to hold back!"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Present day, Saturday afternoon** _

Iris and Blaine were walking along Route 29 and heading back towards New Bark Town. Blaine carried the enormous pile of books Iris had gotten from different places – the library, the school, the Poké Mart, the shelves of the Pokémon Center. Iris originally wanted to carry half of them, but Blaine had taken offense and thought Iris had doubted him because of his age. Iris' Fraxure was following suit, carrying another pile.

"Just a little longer," Iris told Blaine and Fraxure. "Thanks for helping me carry them!"

"Don't... patronize... me," Blaine grumbled, regretting his promise. "What's in all this, anyway? Elm has a library of his own, you know."

"I think I've gone through almost all of them," Iris said. "But I need more books on history, mythology, psychic powers, Mew – there's been almost no confirmed information on that Pokémon, can you believe it?"

"Well... yes," Blaine grunted. "I did study it myself for years, and all I had to work with was a fossil and some ancient texts. Wait, why psychic powers?"

"Well, Mewtwo's a psychic," Iris said evasively. "I kinda thought..."

"You could have gotten that info from me," Blaine said suspiciously.

"Well, okay, it's more of a personal interest," Iris admitted. "Have you fought with Lyra yet?"

"Hmm... no, I've trained her a bit, but haven't been able to test her myself yet," Blaine pondered. "Looks like today might be my last chance to do so."

"Well, I fought her twice already," Iris said, frowning as she reminisced those battles. "She's a lot more closer to her Pokémon than most trainers. I know it sound crazy, but sometimes it seems like she knows what they're thinking, you know?"

"It does sound crazy," Blaine said. "I guess she's just better than you thought."

"She is, but there's more to it," Iris argued. "When she battled, there were times when she didn't have to give orders. She had thought them to memorize certain things, while other times, she didn't even say anything, just signaled with her expressions or hands. I couldn't keep up with her."

"You think books will help you find the answer to that?"

"It's been a while since I've gotten to read this much..."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Iris** _

_**Four years from present day** _

Iris sat in a quiet corner of the Opelucid Academy's library, a huge pile of books practically hiding her from view. Sadly, this was deliberate. Though she tried to put on a smile, it was exhausting when people whispered amongst each other when spotting her or awkwardly avoided conversation with her. And, of course, it gave her a moment with Axew, who slept on the table next to her, Pokémon usually not allowed to roam free in the library – or most of the school's interiors.

Feeling the weight of the matriarch's parting words on her shoulders, Iris soaked up as much knowledge as she could, but it wasn't easy. It was a hot day outside and being stuck indoors so much was giving her a headache. Worse than that, most of what she read didn't stick, the info just sliding by before she quickly realized she hadn't remembered most of it, often having to read paragraphs again. The way many of the books were written was extremely dry and academic, probably meant for people who were older than 14, but sadly those were also the ones with the most useful information.

When Iris started to hear more whispering from the library, her forced smile was about to finally fade – she wasn't even bothering anyone, for Arceus' sake! Looking over the pile of books in front of her, she realized, however, that the whispering wasn't about her, but rather the tall, muscular man with a bushy white beard who didn't pay attention to the people around him, merely walked confidently over to Iris' table after spotting her. Seeing who he was, Iris quickly hid her face behind the book in embarrassment.

"Excuse me," the man said after reaching Iris' table. "Could you be Iris, from the Village of Dragons."

"N-no," Iris said and pretended to read. "I'm not her."

"Then why is 'Iris, from the Village of Dragons is less than three' written on your bag?"

Iris glanced at the bag and was embarrassed even further, but put the book down, admitting defeat.

"It's a heart," Iris said meekly.

"It's good to meet you, Iris," the man said jovially. "My name is Drayden, I'm the gym leader here."

"I know," Iris said. "The matriarch told me about you – but why are you here?"

"Can I sit down?" Drayden asked in turn.

Iris nodded, a little curious as to why he wanted to do so. People kept whispering and staring, but eventually continued their activities, allowing Iris and Drayden to talk in peace.

"I'm impressed you're still here studying," Drayden observed. "Classes are over for the day and it's a beautiful weather outside. I studied here myself, but on days like these, I would be out relaxing with the others."

"O-others?" Iris said.

"Why are you here all by yourself?" Drayden asked.

"I, um, don't want to bother anyone," Iris said and forced herself to laugh. "My first impressions here haven't been too good..."

_Walking around the school's fancy yard on her very first day along with Axew, Iris' face got bright when she noticed a fountain, two students chatting and eating lunch next to it._

" _Divine Dialga!" Iris exclaimed. "No one told me they had a pool here! Come on, Axew, race you to the pool!"_

 _The students barely had time to notice the short girl with long purple hair approach them yelling 'cannonball!' before their lunch was soaked_.

"And then, on the second day, when I tried to have lunch with my classmates..." Iris reminisced.

_Two students sat in the shade of an apple tree, eating their lunch and relaxing after a particularly intense lesson._

" _Did you hear that new girl almost got suspended?" the other student asked her friend. "They say she swam in the fountain."_

_The second student laughed. "Yeah, right. But she is kinda weird. Did you notice her in class? She was totally sucking up to the teacher for points. Who does she think she is?"_

" _I've never seen her around before. Is she even_ from _Opelucid?"_

" _Georgia told me she's from some in-the-middle-nowhere backwater to the north."_

" _Well that explains it." The second student looked up at the tree. "You think we'd get in trouble for trying out one of those apples?"_

_The two students almost shrieked when Iris emerged from the tree, hanging upside down and holding an apple in both of her hands._

" _Why would we?" she asked cheerfully. "Here, I picked some up for you!"_

To Iris' surprise, Drayden just laughed boisterously until he covered his mouth, remembering the library's golden rule: 'Shut up or get smacked on the head with an atlas'.

"Sorry," he said, still suppressing laughter. "I can't believe how many times I was yelled at for climbing in the trees or eating an apple. Why would you even grow those if you're just letting the fruit fall on the ground, I wonder?"

Drayden wiped his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't joke," he continued as Iris stared. "It sounds like you're pretty lonely."

"No, not at all!" Iris said hastily. "Everyone has been really nice! And I've only been here for... a year. Maybe I should just make myself more easily approachable. I don't blame people for avoiding me. And I still have to get used to this city life."

Drayden nodded. "If you say so. And I do think I know what you mean. I doubt I could get used to living in the village now."

"Are you, um, from the village, Mr. Drayden?" Iris asked.

"My parents were, but they moved to Opelucid shortly before I was born. They wanted me to grow up well and raised me to become a dragon master. I've been wanting to see the matriarch again, but I don't think I could adjust to life in the village anymore... this easy city life has softened me up, I guess. Say, Iris."

"Hm?"

"Do you know why the village is under threat? And how it was formed in the first place?"

Iris nodded. She wouldn't have otherwise, but the few books that they had in the village dealt with Unovan history, chronicling the many wars fought in the region over the years. Iris had read the books her family owned so many times she knew them inside out.

Disagreements broke out with both other places and amidst Unovan themselves, with so many people from around the world "discovering" it at the same time and populating it with dozens of different cultures - barely giving a thought about the people who already lived there and who suffered greatly in the hands of these settlers. Whether it was on how people should live or who they should worship, conflicts had torn the region apart until the settlements on the central peninsula containing the modern-day Castelia, Nimbasa, Opelucid and the EntraLink overpowered the others. The central establishment of Unova was formed in Nimbasa City, and their administrative area reached the faraway Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh as well, among smaller places.

Those who disagreed with or opposed the new rule were made to live in the wilderness around Unova, establishing small settlements and attempting to live their lives in peace. The Village of Dragons was one such place. Despite having read such sad facts about history, Iris believed things could become better in modern day, most people having forgotten about the wars and getting along.

"The village could be saved if someone from there could be appointed a gym leader," Drayden mused out loud, interrupting Iris' thoughts. "By the way, I saw you before when I was observing your battle class. You did well against that one girl with a Shelgon."

"But," Iris said, "I lost."

"You and your Axew did very well against an opponent much above your level, and you lost with dignity," Drayden commented. "You know, I will be retiring in a few years. I know my sons are biting on my heels, hoping one of them gets the post, but I don't think they get the responsibility the post holds. Maybe someone from Opelucid Academy would know..."

Iris stared at Drayden, not even realizing she had dropped the book she was holding and had woken up Axew by almost crushing it with the book.

"D-do you mean...?"

"Ah, just an old man rambling, I guess," Drayden grunted and stood up. "It was good to talk to someone else from the village, though. Maybe we'll talk again. I have to get back to work."

"To your gym?" Iris asked.

"No, the gym leader post isn't full-time, and I only challenge those who can get past my gym trainers. No, I have another job, which fortunately leaves me with a lot of free time. Just some public office job, nothing terribly interesting. I'll be seeing you, Iris."

"Y-you too."

Half an hour later, as Iris checked out a few books she would continue reading at her dorm, she overheard the receptionists talking:

"Did you hear? They say mayor Drayden just visited this library!"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Leaf** _

_**Three years from present day** _

15-year old Leaf stood on a rickety wooden platform made of empty crates in Pallet Town, a quiet place on the countryside in southwestern Kanto. She had managed to gather about a dozen interested townspeople around her with her pitch:

"Step right up, step right up!" she announced. "Leaf's quality battle items, right here! Yessir, even you, sir, can become a mighty Pokémon trainer that would cause the Elite Four to mess their pants. Get the complete set for only 5,999, or try out one of our special offers!"

"Wow," said the man Leaf had sold an item to. "Technology sure is incredible!"

"That it is, sir," Leaf said smoothly as he counted the money she got from him. "All from the secret labs from the depths of Mt. Sicstempertyran..." Leaf trailed off and coughed. "And for a low, _low_ price, it could all be yours... hm?"

Leaf noticed someone walking past her podium without paying attention to her, holding a red device on his hands. It was a teenaged boy, probably not much older than Leaf, with black, spiky hair, a red cap and red jacket, six Poké Balls hanging from his belt.

_Hello, potential sucker!_

Leaf jumped off the platform and stepped in the boy's path, prompting him to look at her curiously.

"You look like an accomplished Pokémon trainer!" Leaf told him. "Where are you off to and what are you doing in Pallet Town?"

"..."

It took the boy a while to answer. For a while, Leaf wondered if he was a mute, but he eventually spoke, though rather quietly and softly:

"I'm just here to visit my mother," the boy said. "Then I'm off to Viridian City to challenge the gym leader."

"The gym leader, eh?" Leaf said, pokédollar signs flashing in her eyes. "You better be careful. I heard the Viridian City leader is stronger than any trainer in Kanto besides the Elite Four. Do you think you're ready for him?"

"I don't want to brag," the boy said awkwardly and showed Leaf the inside of his jacket, "but I do have seven badges already."

Leaf's eyes widened as she looked at the shiny badges pinned to his jacket. The boy hadn't lied – there was Brock's Boulder Badge, Misty's Cascade Badge, Lt. Surge's Thunder Badge, Erika's Rainbow Badge, Koga's Soul Badge, Sabrina's Marsh Badge, even Blaine's Volcano Badge. What's more, below those seven was a ribbon indicating he had fought and defeated Kiyo, the Karate King of Saffron City's Dojo.

And at that moment, Leaf knew who the boy was. A kid from Pallet Town, with a brand new world to see. One with seven badges – and from what Leaf heard, he had been praised for his work against Team Rocket in Saffron City.

 _Still, best I don't tell him that_.

"Well, all the more reason you should know that the Viridian City Gym Leader is stronger than all those you have come up against _combined_ ," Leaf said.

She only knew the man by reputation, but the boy seemed to be convinced.

"Wow!" he said excitedly. "I can't wait to challenge him!"

"Yes, but if you want to stand a chance, you'll want to try out my special items!" Leaf said with a wink. "If you use these on your Pokémon, they'll become stronger than you would think possible."

"Um, thank you, but no thanks," the boy said and tried to get past Leaf. "I'd rather win on my own, and besides, I think Blue is on his way there already. I have to get to the Pokémon League before he does!"

 _Oh, so he_ likes _the challenge. I guess I need another string to pull_.

"But what about your poor Pokémon," Leaf said in fake shock as she looked at the Poké Balls on the boy's belt. "I hear the Viridian City Gym Leader is so strong that he doesn't even realize the power he and his Pokémon have! Your Pokémon could be badly hurt!"

This seemed to make the boy doubt himself, but it only took a few seconds for him to steel himself.

"I appreciate the concern," he said politely, "But I know how to make my Pokémon avoid fighting when necessary."

 _I think he's on to me. Too bad for him I know something that never fails_.

"But, sir, please," she begged while grabbing the lapels of the boy's red jacket and 'crying' into it, managing to squeeze out some fake tears. "I don't want to sell this stuff, but I have to! I have no place to call my home, no parents to speak of, and the police are hounding me every step of the way, wanting to return me to that terrible orphanage in Pewter City!"

As Leaf 'cried' on his chest, the boy seemed bothered and didn't seem to think of anything to say.

 _A shy one, eh? All the more reason why this is bound to work_.

"I just need enough money to buy food for myself and the Pokémon I have adopted," Leaf sniffed as she threw herself against the boy. "You're a hero, aren't you? The handsome hero of Pallet Town who defeats the strongest trainers in Kanto and vanquishes the bad guys – please, at least consider buying my products! I swear that I won't waste the chance you give me!"

The boy groaned and gently pushed Leaf away from him. "All right," he sighed. "What if I just give you the money from that stuff but don't actually take them?"

"Oh, thank you, sir, but I could never do that!" Leaf said smoothly. "I'm an honest citizen after all – you must try my items, they really work! Besides, this 'Blue' you told me about... you don't want him to get too much of a head start?"

"..."

"Well?"

"...okay," the boy said quietly and gave Leaf the money.

 _Sucker_.

"Thank you!" she said and grabbed the wad of bills from him. "You've saved my future! Wait right here, I'll bring the stuff over to you!"

Soon enough, Leaf returned to the boy with the red cap carrying a heavy box full of knickknacks, doodads, gadgets and various other things that the box advertised as stuff that boosted the powers of Pokémon and weren't sold in any Poké Marts.

"Uh, here, let me help you," the boy said in concern as Leaf approached him.

"No need," Leaf said, but also grunted theatrically. "I got it – I, whoops."

Just as planned, Leaf 'tripped' over a nonexistent rock on the ground, dropping the box and falling straight on the boy, grabbing his jacket and 'accidentally' pulling it off him as she collapsed on him.

After a few awkward seconds of Leaf laying on top of the boy, she laughed nervously, got up and pulled the boy on his feet as well.

"Sorry," she said as the boy dusted himself off. "I was just so excited about the start of my new life as an honest, productive member of society. Here."

She gave the boy his jacket back, and as soon as that was done, she stormed off, giving her hurried thanks to the boy as she ran away from Pallet Town as fast as she could, leaving the boy standing there quiet and dumbstruck.

Leaf didn't stop to catch her breath until she reached the beginning of Route 1. She leaned against a tree and finally opened her palm to inspect her loot.

The seven badges shined beautifully on Leaf's hand. Leaf could already sense the power that emanated from them. And now, if she could defeat the gym leader of Viridian City, she'd have enough badges to enter the Pokémon League.

Her actions didn't go unnoticed, however. Just as Leaf was about to continue into the wilderness, she saw the boy running after her.

"Thief!" he yelled. "Give me back what you took!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember offering a money-back guarantee," Leaf said cheekily and stuck her tongue out at the boy. "Better luck next time!"

"Keep the money!" the boy shouted as he approached Leaf. "Give me back my badges!"

Leaf just grinned and opened one of her Poké Balls, sending out her Oddish. Though she hadn't battled too much with it, she knew enough about its attacks to make a difference.

"Sweet Scent!" she ordered.

Oddish released a cloud of pink powder into the air. Though it did nothing against the boy, it lured out a swarm of Pidgey, Rattata and Spearow in from the trees, bushes and tall grass, giving Leaf an opening to recall Oddish and escape. Instead of heading straight to Viridian, she headed west, hoping to hide in the vast farmland there.

But she didn't get far, as a large Pokémon emerged from the bushes at her just after a minute of running. It turned out to be Arcanine who pounced at Leaf and pinned her down, not using its claws or teeth, just its sheer size. Leaf tried to struggle against it, but Arcanine kept her down long enough for its trainer to emerge.

It wasn't the boy with black hair, but another one roughly his age but taller, with brown spiky hair and green eyes. He walked over to Leaf in a cool, confident way, completely ignoring her plight as he roughly took the seven badges away from Leaf, inspecting them without saying a word.

The boy with the red jacket eventually caught up with them, having made his way past the wild Pokémon.

"Blue!" he panted at the brown-haired one.

"Oh, still dawdling around here?" Blue remarked at the boy. "I was already on my way to the Viridian Gym, but then I heard something about a badge thief. This isn't any fun if you have to go and challenge all those gym leaders _again_ while _I_ become the Pokémon League Champion!"

 _What a tool,_ Leaf thought.

Either way, Blue returned the badges to the boy.

"Thanks," the boy told him.

Blue just waved his hand at him and focused on Leaf. "Now, what should we do with you? I guess a simple question would be in order – Arcanine, return!"

To Leaf's confusion, Blue returned his Pokémon. Still, she knew she couldn't go anywhere until she answered his questions, and he could easily send his Pokémon after he even if she did get away. It's what she would have done.

"I know it's a more convenient way to get badges," Blue said, "but why don't you tell me why you did it anyway? You can't sell those and their power isn't worth anything to you if you're not already good enough to get them honestly."

Leaf turned her head away, tears filling her eyes for real this time. The boy with the red cap noticed this and tried to approach Leaf, but Blue held his arm in front of him, shaking his head lightly. Still on her back on the ground, Leaf clenched his hands, grabbing some grass in her fists as tears streamed down her face.

"I need to get to the Pokémon League," she said. "I have nothing else to live for. If I get there, I can prove I'm at least worth something."

She turned to look at the boy with black hair.

"I wasn't exactly lying to you before," she said. "Have you heard of a child who was kidnapped from Pewter City two years ago?"

The black-haired boy looked horrified while Blue scowled.

"You mean-?"

Leaf nodded. "He kept me and many others locked up in Johto for over a year. When I finally escaped, I hid from him several months more. Finally, when I was able to return to Kanto, I hear that my parents have apparently split up and moved somewhere far away. They didn't even care enough about their own daughter to wait a damn year!"

Leaf closed her eyes, wishing the two would stop looking at her, even for a moment.

"I thought I had a future," she said. "I did well in school and wanted to be a scientist. But I can't get back in anymore. All I know anymore is stealing and cheating people for money – I'm worthless!"

What followed was a long silence, the three just standing awkwardly until Blue sighed and offered his hand to Leaf, who reluctantly allowed Blue to help her up. Leaf watched Blue take something from his pocket and give it to Leaf before turning away from her.

"If you need a place to stay, my sister Daisy has room," he said. "She's a coordinator who runs a Pokémon massage parlor from her home. Gramps is at work most of the time and I have a journey to complete. That's why I don't have time to stand around here. Later."

In disbelief, Leaf looked at the phone number printed on the card, then up at Blue, who was casually walking away. She wanted to yell something in thanks, but the words got stuck in her throat. Before she knew it, Blue was gone.

The black-haired boy remained however, and Leaf wished he didn't see her drying her eyes. Still, the boy smiled at her kindly.

"He acts like a jerk much of the time," he said, "but Blue isn't all that bad."

"Yeah," Leaf sniffed. "Thank him for me. I'm... sorry I stole from you."

"Well, it's not like you can steal my victories against those gym leaders," the boy said cheerfully with a relaxed shrug. "Those badges are really just symbols. It's just that I kind of need them to get to the Pokémon League."

"Don't you want to go now?" Leaf wondered when the boy just stood still. "He's you rival, right? He'll get the badge before you do!"

"Ah, it's not _that_ big a deal," the boy said. "I wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Better now," Leaf said. "But I don't know if I should take his offer. I don't want to be a burden on anyone."

The boy looked at her for a while more, then cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Um, well, you know he _is_ Professor Oak's grandson, right?"

Leaf stared at the boy. Professor Samuel Oak, the grand authority on Pokémon research in Kanto and a scientist respected worldwide – he was even said to be close to becoming the Kanto champion once. So the boy had to be...

"Oh, man, Blue and Daisy Oak, of course!" Leaf exclaimed and slapped her forehead. "I've heard about them before. And that Blue is one of Kanto's finest trainers!"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far..." the boy muttered. "But, what I mean is, since you're staying with his grandchildren, and I know Professor Oak personally... maybe you can help him out with his research. You said you wanted to study that, right?"

Leaf couldn't help herself. She almost gasped as she stared at the boy, her eyes wider than ever and still red from the crying.

"Y-you mean that?!" she exclaimed so loudly that the boy flinched. "That's – I mean, that's more than I could have ever asked for! You can really arrange that?!"

"They're always busy at the lab, so I guess he could use an understudy," the boy said with a nod. "I have to admit, you were pretty clever with your sales pitch, so you could put that skill to good use. Come on, I can introduce you to him!"

Leaf didn't know what to say. Just a moment ago, she had been destitute, aimlessly seeking a place for herself. She had been put in an orphanage after her return, but had quickly left, the children at the place reminding him too much of the children with the Masked Man.

And now, she would be studying Pokémon as Professor Oak's understudy. It felt like a dream.

"Oh, and take this, too," the boy said as he gave the red device he was carrying to her.

Leaf looked at it. "A PokéDex? This is too valuable, I can't-"

"Professor Oak wants someone to complete it, but I'm not too good with all that science stuff," the boy admitted. "And Blue just catches Pokémon without properly studying them. And don't worry, it's not that amazing – it seems like everyone has these nowadays, and I'd rather get to know new Pokémon myself instead of relying on that."

Leaf shook her head. "I don't deserve this."

But the boy disagreed. "I think everyone deserves at least a chance," he said and held out his hand for Leaf to shake. "My name is Red, by the way."

Leaf shook his hand. "I know," she said. "I'm Leaf."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Present day, Saturday evening** _

Kris and Iris arrived to the lab to continue looking up information on the Masked Man and Mewtwo, their arguing over Pokémon training methods quickly interrupted when they entered the ghostly silence of the lab. Leaf and Blaine just sat still with their arms crossed and looked contemplative while Elm seemed to be caught awkwardly in the middle.

"What's going on here, a funeral?" Kris remarked.

Everyone was silent, barely acknowledging the girls' arrival. Iris clasped her hands over her mouth.

"Oh no, it is a funeral!" she gasped. "Kris! You can't just go around asking stuff like that!"

"It's not that," Leaf clarified and broke the argument. "We're just... remembering."

"What? Or whom?" Kris asked.

"Red," Blaine grunted. "All this time we've been focusing on the Masked Man and Mewtwo, but we haven't tried to put any effort in finding him. I have a gut feeling he's connected somehow."

"And we promised to help him," Leaf said. "Everyone else who joined his team is either dead, missing or quit because of the danger."

"If he knows something," Blaine said thoughtfully, "he could have found a way to help stop the Masked Man and had to go into hiding because of it."

"It's been exactly one year since he vanished," Leaf said. "But to where? And why? Shouldn't he have tried to contact us by now?"

"He quit his Champion status a few months before disappearing," Blaine remembered. "Did he find something out through that? Maybe he discovered Pryce's secret, or..."

"The way people talk about him is like he's a God," Elm remarked, clearly not on the same level as Blaine and Leaf.

"Did you know him?" Iris asked the professor.

Elm shook his head. "Just heard about him, and saw him on TV, obviously. But Blaine, Leaf, Professor Oak... they all spoke very highly of him. Well, Oak less so when Red stepped down. I wonder why that was."

"It's thanks to him that I got this far," Leaf said wistfully. "I was lost and confused before he got me the spot as Oak's understudy, and through that, my job at the museum. He didn't feel sorry for me – he got me the spot because he knew I could do it. He knew I was worth it. I completed my studies, and I still didn't help him or his team during their hour of need. Maybe he would have regretted helping me after all..."

"Nonsense!" Blaine barked. "He would have helped you no matter what, and you couldn't have known! The fact that you're out here putting you life on the line and opposing the Masked Man is prove that you _are_ worth it! And we'll make him pay!"

Kris couldn't believe Leaf had become so devastated. When she had confronted the Masked Man earlier and when she told Kris about her past with him, she had nerves of steel. And now it looked like she was crumbling.

Kris felt a pang of guilt hit her – she had focused all her energy on training and hadn't looked up enough on the Masked Man, even after learning about what he did to Leaf. All this made Kris hate Pryce even more, making her wonder just what drove him to kidnap innocent children like that.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Pryce** _

_**Fifty years before present day** _

The young, muscular, dark-haired Pryce stood before his trainer, master Glacia, who was the Mahogany Town Gym Leader despite being only a few years older than Pryce. His hands clenched in fists of rage and sorrow, Pryce's whole body shook as he awaited Glacia's judgment. He couldn't stand just waiting and standing there as she stared at him coldly.

"Well?!" Pryce yelled at the silent Glacia. "Aren't you going to help me?!"

"What happened was your own doing," Glacia said. "You were negligent and arrogant. You should have told me about this long ago."

"I wanted to save Lapras myself!" Pryce argued. "Please! Help me! You have to help me bring it back!"

"There is no way to do so," Glacia simply remarked. "You're going to have to live with it and accept your blame in this."

"Blame?!" Pryce screamed. "It wasn't my fault! It wasn't-"

"Then whose fault was it?" Glacia asked. "Deliberate or not, the blame lies on you. Get stronger for it."

"But... no... you can't-"

"And I have no room for students who cannot face the consequences of their actions," Glacia remarked. "Pryce, for causing the death of your Pokémon and bringing shame on the Mahogany Gym, you are no longer my student or a gym trainer here. Please leave immediately."

The exiled and shamed Pryce couldn't bare living in Mahogany Town anymore. He wandered around Johto, then Kanto and finally Sinnoh, believing he was far enough from his past there. He lived in solitude in a shack in northern Sinnoh, occasionally challenging people to battles, becoming stronger but feeling no joy from his victories and being unable to relate to his Pokémon, who stood by his side nonetheless. After three decades of wandering, Pryce stumbled upon the Sendoff Spring, a lake far in the Sinnoh wilderness with no humans and very little Pokémon around.

Having heard of the mysterious spring where the deceased would go on the journey to the world beyond, Pryce had been ready to end his miserable life there, but wished to explore the underground cavern he found first – the one he had heard been called the 'Turnback Cave'.

This turned out to be a mistake, as the powerful Pokémon in the cave wore out his own Pokémon quickly, and no matter how many turns he took, he found himself lost in the complex maze of the cave. After realizing he had passed the same landmark three times despite traveling in one direction, it also became clear that the cave was not from this world. Either that, or Pryce's guilt had finally made him go mad.

" _What's the matter, Pryce?_ "

Pryce was convinced of his madness when he heard a voice speak in his head despite being in a dark corner of the cave with no living beings besides him around, all of his Pokémon knocked out and back in their Poké Balls.

" _Isn't this what you wanted? Now no one will ever find you and reveal your mistake to the world. Poor man – the years have not been kind to you, I see._ "

"It wasn't my mistake!" Pryce insisted stubbornly.

" _I agree._ "

Pryce woke from his daze. For the first time, someone in his head wasn't accusing him of things. The voice didn't seem to be imaginary after all.

"What is this place?!" Pryce called out.

" _In this cave, the link between worlds is stronger and the barrier separating them weaker._ _I am, in many ways, like you. Trapped in a strange place for an honest mistake, blamed for things I shouldn't be blamed for._ _My return would make this world right again, but there are those who continue to struggle against me._ "

"What are you?"

" _Your friend. You may call me Giratina._ _Take a good look to your left_."

Something fell down next to Pryce immediately as he turned to look left. Looking up, he saw only the cave's ceiling – it was as if the object had dropped from nothing.

It was a decorative, light blue mask that covered ones face completely. Pryce wanted to touch it, but wanted to know more about it first. His benefactor was more than willing to give information, however:

" _One of the many tools the weak humans have had to invent to use against me in hopes that I would not escape my prison. Now it can become a weapon for me – for us – to wield. You are not like ordinary humans, I can tell. With that mask you could become even more powerful, gaining powers beyond even most Pokémon. You could manipulate ice and snow, gain incredible endurance and even limited flight. If you put on that mask and choose to serve me, you will also gain information on obtaining one of the most sought powers known to humanity: the power to manipulate time itself._ "

Manipulate time... fix ones mistakes... and erase everyone who would stand against him.

" _But be forewarned – putting on that mask means you will be marked_ _for all eternity. Choose to follow and aid me, and you will become more than any other human has ever been. But disobey my orders, and you will be sucked_ _into this world to keep me compa_ -"

Pryce didn't even hesitate putting the mask on.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Kris & Lyra** _

_**Two years before present day** _

It was a particularly rainy night in Johto as Kris stumbled back home to New Bark Town, having spent most of her day walking around Route 29 aimlessly, hoping to escape the events of the day at school. Unfortunately, the cause of those events was waiting for her at her doorstep.

"Kris!" yelled Lyra, who had sat at her doorstep for apparently long, being completely soaked. "I was waiting here for so long! Your mom doesn't seem to be home – can you let me in?"

Kris stopped a few yards away from her door, choosing to simply glare at Lyra.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"Kris, I'm sorry for earlier!" Lyra said earnestly. "I'll talk to Ethan about this-"

"So Ethan is your best friend now?" Kris inquired coldly. "I still would have thought you'd come to my defense, considering all we've done together so far. I guess I don't count for much anymore."

"Kris, I didn't mean to-"

"You let them humiliate me," Kris railed on. "You were there and you didn't say a thing."

Lyra looked at the ground sadly. She wasn't going to argue about it. Scoffing, Kris walked towards the door and pushed past Lyra, digging her pocket for her key.

"Can I at least come inside for a moment?" Lyra pleaded. "We can work things out – I know what Ethan and those guys did wasn't cool, and I know I was sort of there too, but it really wasn't _that_ serious-"

"So you're just okay with it?" Kris wondered. "You're going to keep being friends with Ethan even after this?"

"You were friends with him, too," Lyra reminded.

"I was _your_ friend, and Ethan came with the package," Kris argued. "We _never_ spent any time together, thank goodness!"

"Okay, but I don't know what you expect, I already said I'm sorry!" Lyra snapped, about to lose her patience. "I mean – we're still friends, right?"

Kris turned her back at Lyra and opened the door. "I have no friends," she said before closing it.

Lyra just stood in the rain, staring at the door as if she was expecting it to open any minute now, with Kris yelling 'gotcha!' or something and letting Lyra in.

"Yeah, that was good, really dramatic!" she yelled, crossing her arms and shivering. "You always were a drama queen! But no, seriously, Kris, open the door. Kris? Kris! It's really cold and rainy out here – and I think I just heard thunder. Open the door, please, Kris!"

But there was no response no matter how hard Lyra stared or yelled.

"Kris?"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Present day, Sunday noon** _

Blaine's van had been loaded, and Kris had packed everything she needed with her. Mt. Silver was not terribly far away, but the road there was terrible, even if the Conference was held near the base of the mountain instead on top like the first one, held several hundred years ago. Blaine himself got behind the wheel, but for some reason, Iris, Leaf and Elm were just standing around instead of getting in.

"Um," Kris said, "so are we just waiting for someone, or-"

"Hi, guys, sorry I'm late!"

Kris didn't even have to turn around to recognize the voice. Lyra skipped over to the van and threw her bag in it, taking a look inside presumably for the first time.

"Wow, Blaine, you have a cool setup here," she observed.

"Finally!" Blaine exclaimed from the driver's seat through the open window. "Someone understands! Now get in, we need to be there before all the good rooms are taken!"

"Why is _she_ coming along?" Kris grumbled and glared as Lyra climbed into the van.

Elm cleared his throat and started to lecture: "Um, Kris, I've been meaning to talk to you about your attitude concerning Lyra. I think-"

"My parents are both at work," Lyra told Kris, "so calm your nips. The professor and Blaine told me they have an extra seat and I needed a ride to Mt. Silver. They'll still be watching on TV and will be there for the finale for when I'm crowned Champion, so no big deal."

"Yeah, you're traveling together, so both of you better pipe down!" Blaine said harshly. "My car, my rules, and if a fight breaks out and Betsy gets hurt, you'll pay!"

Elm sighed and got into the van, followed by Leaf. Kris still grumbled about the travel arrangements, but no one besides Iris listened to her.

"Isn't it time to let it go already?" Iris asked quietly so no one else could hear. "I know being cold doesn't bother you, but you can't let that storm rage on anymore. I mean, you and her were friends... once upon a time."

"Yeah," Kris sighed. "Once upon a time."

Knowing arguing would be pointless, Iris and Kris joined Lyra on the back seats, Iris having to sit between them. Elm and Leaf went to their seats and Blaine revved up the van, backing away from the parking lot at Elm's van and heading to the north. The Silver Conference was only hours away.


	18. Silver Conference, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Silver Conference tournament begins and Kris must battle her way through the first rounds while suspicions mounts about the security arrangements.

**THE 60th SILVER CONFERENCE ON MT. SILVER – OFFICIAL SCHEDULE**

**Monday** :

_Opening ceremony_

_Demonstrative battle: Champion Lance vs. Champion Alder_

_Opening speech_

_The Torch of Moltres Ignited_

**Tuesday** :

_Preliminary Round 1, 3-on-3 battles (32)_

**Wednesday** :

_Preliminary Round 2, 3-on-3 battles (16)_

**Thursday** :

_Elimination Round, 5-on-5 battles (8)_

_Kimono Girls Dance Number_

**Friday** :

_Semi-Finals, 5-on-5 battles (4)_

_The Silver Conference Parade_

_Highlights Showcase_

**Saturday** :

_Final Battle, 5-on-5 battle (2)_

_Passing of the Torch_

_The Elite Four Crowning Ceremony_

**Sunday** :

_Winner vs. Champion Lance_

_Final speech_

_Silver Conference Gala_

**Chapter Eighteen: " _Silver Conference, Part 1_ "**

_**Location: Silver Conference Stadium, Mt. Silver, Johto** _

_**Monday** _

With Lyra having gone off to train and Leaf having gone touring the various souvenir, battle item and food stands, Kris, Iris, Blaine and Elm had gathered in one the preparation rooms where the contestants got to wait for their orders. The preparation rooms had training facilities, computers for checking up on Pokémon stats, buffet tables and TV screens sprinkled all over the place so the contestants could get a glimpse of what happened in the arena. The opening ceremony had just begun, but Kris didn't want to listen to the blabbering of the announcers or see some suit from the Pokémon Association make a boring speech.

Kris had been fairly terrified during the registration process, fearing that her entry confirmation hadn't gone through, but was able to breathe easy once it was confirmed that the Dragon Master himself had written the approval letter. She would have liked to train her Pokémon a bit more in private, but Blaine insisted they stayed in a group, fearing eventual attack by either the Mask of Ice or Mewtwo.

Blaine wasn't the only one: though the Conference's security had always been tight, this time the security was overseen by the International Police themselves, Kris catching a glimpse of Detective Looker when she registered. Looker didn't show any signs of recognizing Kris or acknowledging her presence. Currently, Blaine was going over his instructions for the sixth time.

"If you see Pryce or _anyone_ you might think is his crony-" Blaine lectured, "and I do mean _anyone_ , feel free to suspect even the janitor, you never know – contact me through them. Try not to go too far alone, even if it is just to go the bathroom or to grab some snacks."

Leaf had supplied the group with small portable radios with earpieces, exactly like the one Silver had given Kris during the Radio Tower incident.

"Keep a fire Pokémon with you wherever you go – Elm, you stay with me, I don't want you running off and forgetting where you are," Blaine continued, Elm seeming a little offended but not saying anything. "Don't go wandering around into anywhere someone could ambush you in. If it's Pryce or a henchman, you can try to defend yourself but _don't be a hero_. If it's Mewtwo, run the hell away and contact me _immediately_! Got it?"

Kris, Iris and Elm nodded, having memorized the lecture inside out already. She wouldn't think that being around heavily armed people watching her every move would actually make her feel secure, but as it was, she couldn't worry about Pryce too much. Considering she had been at her most vulnerable in New Bark Town and Pryce hadn't made a move, Kris doubted he would pull a stunt now.

Iris turned the TV on, eager to watch the ceremonies herself, so with nothing better to do, Kris joined her, leaving Elm and Blaine discussing something quietly. Another commercial break was just over and the chattering of DJ's Mary and Ben began as they showed footage of the thousands of excited fans cheering on. Even though Kris still had a day before her part, she felt nervous watching this.

" _And we're back! To those of you just joining, welcome to the 60th Silver Conference, broadcast from the foot of Mt. Silver. I'm Mary, the host of Oak's Pokémon Talk – why don't they call it Mary_ and _Oak's Pokémon Talk, anyway? I'm the reason they tune in!"_

" _Oookay, and I'm DJ Ben, host of Pokémon Music. With the opening ceremonies over with, it's time to introduce our guests of honor. Making the Conference a safer place for us all, we have the illustrious Detective Looker, who has come to help us all the way from the Kalos region_."

The camera showed footage of Looker messily eating a sandwich outside the stadium, utterly oblivious to being filmed until a split second before the footage changed.

" _The International Police's actions have been praised unanimously in the media for spearheading the rescue of the Radio Tower staff. We personally thank you, Detective, for letting the voice of DJ Mary be heard through the land. Anyway, joining us for this Conference are the Kimono Girls of Ecruteak City!_ "

They now showed the Kimono Girls in formation on the greens of the stadium. On Kuni's mark, all seven took out their longbows and fired arrows into the air that exploded into magnificent fireworks over the stadium, leaving the crowd awed. Kris knew this wasn't just for show, though – it was a clear message for the Masked Man to stay away, or else.

" _They're as beautiful as they are deadly, reminding me of myself, wouldn't you so say, Mary?"_

" _No, Ben – I would not. Moving on, we finally have our three celebrity judges. You all know the first one: he's the fierce dragon master, Champion of the Indigo League, defender of the innocent, a righteous warrior for good and a bunch of other titles that I'm way too hung over to read out loud: Champion Lance!_ "

" _Next, we have the proud sponsor of our Silver Conference, the determined entrepreneur, philanthropist and inspiration for us all, all the way from the Sinnoh region, madam Sird!_ "

" _And finally, overseer of dozens of tournaments, mentor to hundreds of Pokémon trainers, a revered veteran of two wars and, most of all, the Champion of the Unova region: Alder!_ "

The panel of judges showed on screen. Lance's arms were crossed and he was as curt as ever, barely smiling as his name was mentioned. Sird was warmer, but still professional and restrained, waving slightly as the footage changed to her. Alder, on the other hand, stood up and grinned, accepting the applause roaring his way. Kris had only heard of him, but hadn't really seen him much until now. He was probably the oldest of the Champions and a very large, muscular man who clearly didn't care about what others dressed like, wearing a poncho and a necklace made of what Kris assumed to be his Poké Balls. His hair was long, bushy and orange and overall he seemed much scruffier than Kris would have thought. Still, the crowd seemed to love him, even more so than Lance, even though it was his home turf.

" _Now that we've got the boring stuff out of the way, it's time for the moment we've all been waiting for. To demonstrate the spirit of the Silver Conference and to raise the bar for our contestants for tomorrow, Indigo Champion Lance will now face off against Unova Champion Alder!_ "

"Holy balls," Kris exclaimed and leaned closer to the TV. "They're really going to duke it out. They really put together a good show for the anniversary show: the last time I watched this, everything that wasn't battling was pretty dull."

It took a few minutes, but eventually Lance and Alder were on a battlefield in the center of the arena, Lance's cape and Alder's hair flowing dramatically from the wind – even though it wasn't even windy outside. The referee, clearly intimidated by the two men, walked over to the battlefield, raised his flag and dramatically pulled it down, commencing the battle.

"Oh, snap," Iris cheered and tried to snap her fingers to illustrate the point, only to fail. "Hey, Kris, who are you rooting for?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Kris asked cheekily. "Alder seems cool enough, but Johto is going to _destroy_ your sorry asses."

"Don't be so sure," Iris said. "You clearly haven't seen what Unovans can do. I would so love to meet that Alder guy – he could show me a trick or two."

"What, you're thinking of becoming a champion now?" Kris remarked with a scoff. "You're pretty good, I admit it, and maybe you'll become a gym leader, but I wouldn't dream of championship just yet."

"You just wait," Iris smiled. "I already have a costume in mind."

Alder sent out his Bouffalant, a bovine Pokémon that reminded Kris of Tauros, only much more badass-looking, with bigger horns and a large afro on its head. Lance sent out a Gyarados, and not just any Gyarados, but the red one Kris had helped him capture. Kris was relieved she hadn't poisoned it with the Secretpotion.

As the battle started, Kris and Iris initially had trouble catching up, not just because of the frenzied commentary of the DJ's, but because the Champions' style of battling was something out of this world. Lance gave a command to the red Gyarados without words, merely forming gestures with his fingers, prompting the red Gyarados to use Dragon Pulse, but which Alder effortlessly had Bouffalant dodge and counter with Head Charge that caused the Gyarados great damage but didn't bring it down but instead allowed Gyarados to use Aqua Tail.

Not only did the Champions move alongside their Pokémon and giving orders and advice to them at an incredible speed, they didn't even seem to break a sweat. Lance was stone-faced as always, while Alder was smiling and laughing as he battled, both of them completely calm. The attacks of their respective Pokémon were not only fast, but incredibly powerful, causing explosions that whipped up large amounts of dust, forcing the cameraman to constantly change angles.

Kris and Iris stood on the edges of their seats, staring at the battle in awe and cheering their respective Champions on, but secretly wishing they wouldn't win right away, the battle being the most exciting either of them could remember.

But just as the red Gyarados was about to charge a Hyper Beam, Alder held out his hand spoke into his microphone:

" _Stop_ ," he said.

The entire arena went silent, as did Kris and Iris. They glanced at each other, unaware of what was going on. Was Alder giving up already? Was it a trick? Was it...

" _In the nnname of looo-ove~_ ," Alder sang, " _before you break my heart..._ "

Kris' mouth opened in disbelief, but it was nothing compared to what Lance did next. Although looking mildly annoyed to have to do it, he brought his own microphone closer and responded in turn:

" _Baby, baby, I'm aware of where you go~_ ," Lance sang, surprisingly smoothly despite his annoyed expression. " _Each time you leave my door..._ "

Kris couldn't believe what she was seeing. Two Champions, among the greatest trainers in the world, interrupted their epic battle to... croon at each other? Alder seemed to be enjoying himself and really hammed it up, while Lance just seemed bored, though it didn't hurt his performance.

When the camera switched to crowd reactions, Kris was even more surprised. Sure, there seemed to be some confusion and annoyance, but mostly the crowd seemed to be amused, many laughing and clapping, not looking at all surprised at what was happening.

"You didn't think they'd battle each other for real, did you?" asked Blaine, who had been observing over Kris and Iris' shoulder. "We'd be here for days if they did."

"Yeah, but," Kris complained. "Where did all that epicness go? This isn't..."

"Think about it this way," Elm said kindly, "if you win this thing, you'll get to try his battling skills out yourself."

Kris hadn't really thought it that far. All that she wanted was to get further than Lyra. Seeing Lance command his Pokémon, a powerful, somewhat freshly caught one that had almost killed him not too long ago at that, made Kris nervous... and very curious to try him out. Of course, Kris had seen Lance fight at the Rocket hideout, but that battle had been over fairly quickly. Kris didn't doubt that if he went all-out, her Pokémon wouldn't stand much of a chance.

After Lance and Alder finished their duet and recalled their Pokémon, Alder hugged Lance enthusiastically and slapped him on the back roughly, Lance just muttering something at him to which Alder nodded to. Leaving the stadium without saying a word, Lance allowed Alder to take his mic and address the audience, who applauded wildly.

" _Thank you!_ " he said with a grin. " _Rest assured, your Champion's status will remain unchallenged for a while. It's great to be back here in Johto and I look forward to seeing some incredible battles tomorrow. I hope this has taught our contestants something: fight to win and don't hold back, but don't lose of sight of what is important. Fight fair, fight clean and don't be afraid to stop, if it's in the name of love. Seriously, though I hope all of you in the audience and all of you watching at home enjoy yourselves! Let the Silver Conference begin!_ "

Kris smiled as she watched Alder walk out of the arena, waving at the crowds who went wild for him. She could see why he was so popular: he had the skills of a Champion, but carried himself like any other trainer. Most importantly, though, as awesome as it would have been to watch a battle between two titans like that, Kris would have to please thousands of demanding battling fans tomorrow. Now that Lance and Alder weren't there eclipsing her, maybe she could actually give them a satisfying battle.

_As long as that jerk Croc does what he's told._

"I still think Alder would have won," Iris said, but was also smiling. "Say, shouldn't Leaf be here by now? She'll miss out on all the good parts!"

"She wasn't even with me when I registered," Kris remembered.

"She takes the preparations against Pryce seriously," Blaine commented. "We should, too! Kris, feel free to do whatever it takes to prepare for tomorrow, but the rest of us have some research to do!"

_**Tuesday** _

Kris hadn't slept too well last night. As much as Iris, who had shared a hotel room with her, had pointed out the importance of a good night's sleep before a battle, Kris only got around five hours of sleep and had to sink two cups of particularly strong coffee that morning. Elm and Blaine shared another room, and Leaf and Lyra had to so with another. Kris had offered Leaf her condolences and made sure Lyra was in earshot, though was less than amused when she heard Lyra had already said the same to Iris.

Currently, Kris was in the waiting room alongside thirty other challengers, so the atmosphere was fairly tense. They had already revealed who would fight whom, but only the audience would get to see the entire match-up list, Kris only getting to see her first opponent: Vance the bird keeper, the same who had defeated her at Route 44. Kris' stomach hurt a bit seeing that, but not as much as it would if she had been forced to battle Lyra, or some other high-profile trainer. There was a lot of hype about someone called Arcade Star Dahlia, as well as about a frequent tournament challenger called Pebbleman. There was also a gym leader from Sinnoh present. Apparently even becoming gym leader didn't stop some trainers from wanting to reach even higher.

Iris was there with her, Blaine most likely having insisted so. Kris was glad, though, as Iris constantly gave her encouragement and last-minute tips, even rubbing her neck a bit – anything that helped. But even she couldn't reduce the tension she felt when she saw one particular challenger spot her from the crowd and approach her.

It was a boy around her age with black hair, golden brown eyes and a yellow and black cap he kept backwards, allowing his hair to stick about it from underneath, having most likely spent hours in the bathroom getting it just right. He also wore goggles over his cap like the protagonist of some shōnen anime. He strode cockily towards Kris, a shorter boy accompanying him.

"That's him," Kris muttered through clenched teeth.

"Who?" Iris wondered, squinting a bit to see the two boys approaching. "Hey, isn't that Joey the youngster? But who's the guy with him?"

"Ethan," Kris sighed. "Ethan _frickin'_ Gold."

"That's a weird middle name," Iris remarked.

"Not funny."

"Huh?"

"Krissy!" Ethan greeted once he got close enough. "Looks like I owe Joey twenty pokédollars – you actually made it to the Silver Conference. Living the dream, huh?"

"Ethan," Kris said flatly. "How great to see y- oh, you know what, forget this, I'm out!"

But as Kris tried to stand up to leave, Iris pushed her back down.

"Don't be rude!" Iris told her. "At least introduce us! And it could be your turn any minute now! The first battle is already underway!"

"I'm Joey!" the boy behind Ethan said immediately. "Remember me? We met on Route 30! Kris fought my Rattata, who is in the top percentage of-"

"She means me, Joey," Ethan said without even turning to look at him, sighing theatrically. "How goes it?" Ethan said and waved at Iris casually.

"Don't tell me," Kris grumbled. "You got all eight badges of Johto?"

"Johto?!" Ethan snorted and jabbed Joey, making him give out a forced laugh. "As if I had time to train for Clair when the Silver Conference was looming ahead. No, I asked daddy to drive me to Kanto so I could beat some of the scrubs there for an eighth badge. It's good to be connected."

"Tell me _you_ didn't, at least," Kris told Joey, deciding that if he did, she would retire Pokémon training and spend the rest of her life as a potato farmer.

"Oh, I tried," Joey said modestly," but I gave up around the fourth badge after a trashing I got from Lyra. I find it more fun to cheer for my old buddy Ethan here," he added with a grin as he put his hand on Ethan's shoulder.

"Don't touch me," Ethan said icily.

"Sorry, Ethan!"

"Oh yeah, speaking of Lyra," Kris said, wanting to hear the other half of the story, "I thought you guys left New Bark together. Why aren't you traveling with her anymore?"

"Eh, she was slowing me down, and really cramping my style," Ethan said with a shrug, "so I ditched her around Violet City. I got the rest of my posse and Joey here cheering me on, so I didn't need more dead weight. She's been on some mood the whole time – probably on the rag or somesuch."

"Calling Ethan Gold from New Bark Town and Ace Trainer Kara from Lilycove City, you're up next!" one of the handlers yelled into the room.

Ethan adjusted his had lazily and waved at Kris and Iris.

"Well, I've got to go put the fear of Gold in some unfortunate soul," he remarked as he left, Joey following obediently behind him. "I almost feel sorry for them. Laterz!"

Kris and Iris were left staring, Iris perplexed and Kris... surprisingly calm. She had expected to feel seething rage, but all she felt was mild annoyance and a dash of pity for Joey. Because at this point, she finally realized something: he really wasn't worth her hate anymore.

"Well," Iris said finally. "He certainly was-"

"Let me guess," Kris interrupted snarkily. "'Wow, what a nice guy, friend of yours?'"

"Actually, I was going to say, 'wow, what an utter assbag' and I hope you pulverize him if you battle."

"Well, that's-"

"And I mean that literally," Iris said, her voice so menacing that Kris almost shuddered, Iris' grip on Kris' shoulders actually hurting Kris. "If the ref isn't watching, use a Pokémon attack directly at him, or tell Croc to eat him, I don't care."

"Iris!" Kris cringed.

Iris realized she was squeezing Kris' shoulders and let go, laughing nervously and quickly assuming her usual friendly tone.

"Sorry," she said. "It's just that now I know what your problem with him is."

"Ethan and Kara are in battle!" the handler announced. "Next contestants, get ready: Irwin from Goldenrod City versus Sliver from Cherrygrove City!"

"Sliver," Kris repeated. "That's new. Is that like a pseudonym?"

"Wait," Iris muttered. "Doesn't that sound like-?"

While Irwin the juggler hurried to his position and eagerly waited for his battle, his challenger, a boy with long red hair, slouched to his own spot with his hands in his pockets.

"Silver!" Kris whispered. "I haven't seen him since the Radio Tower incident."

"Sheesh," Iris said as she watched him assume his spot. "One easily recognizable fake name and no disguise even though the place is crawling with more police than anywhere else in Johto. He's got stones all right."

Not wanting to estimate one's ballsiness or lack thereof, Kris was still ready to admit that she got a lot more nervous about the Conference now. Silver was better than her, plain and simple: he had more badges, he got further in the Whirl Cup and he defeated Dr. Gideon quite easily when even her Chandelure couldn't take on Gideon's Porygon-Z. Not only that, but he knew how to fight dirty – Kris was more focused on trying to know how to fight, period.

"Gosh, how many more?" Iris asked, sounding oddly anxious.

"13 more pairs of battlers," Kris said. "Why?"

Iris groaned. "I know Blaine asked me to watch over you, but it's been so long since I went to the bathroom..."

"For Arceus' sake, I'm not going to get ambushed by a wanted criminal in a room full of people," Kris sighed. "Just go, I'll be fine. Just be sure to see me wipe the floor with that Vance guy!"

Iris quickly thanked Kris and left the room hastily. While leaving, she glanced at one particular competitor, a mysterious young woman in a black dress wearing a black mask over her face. This worried Iris a bit, though the mask looked nothing like the one Pryce had worn and Iris doubted one of Pryce's cronies would flaunt their allegiance to him so openly.

Iris found the bathroom after several minutes of searching, but finding her way out was not as easy. She soon realized she had wandered into the basement as the corridor she was walking on was empty and more decrepit than the rest of the place, filled mostly with maintenance rooms and such. Even so, there were TV's on the walls broadcasting battles. Silver had apparently just beaten Irwin the juggler easily.

Based on what Kris had told her, Iris did think there was good in Silver, but still couldn't bring herself to forgive him for his Pokémon thefts, including his attempted kidnapping of Axew. The real question that plagued her was, why did he help Kris with the Radio Tower incident at all? It didn't seem in-character for such a selfish person.

And where the hell was she?

Everywhere she looked seemed the same and Iris was convinced she wouldn't get into the waiting room that way, so she decided to turn back. When one of the doors along the corridor opened and someone, perhaps a janitor, came out, Iris sighed in relief and walked over to the man who had dark blonde hair and wore a long blue coat.

"Excuse me!" Iris told the man nervously. "This is a bit embarrassing, but I lost on the way out of the bathrooms. Could you tell me how to get to the waiting room?"

"'Fraid not, miss," the man said, his accent slightly Orrean. "I don't work here, you see. I'm here to secure this place because the International Police ain't doin' their jobs."

"Wait a moment," Iris said and squinted a bit as she stared up at the man. "You're – you're the guy who stole the GS Ball from Kris! She told me about you!"

"And you're one of her friends, I know," the man remarked. "Wes is the name. I'm what you'd call a wanderer, a rogue, a Pokémon bounty hunter as some call me."

"A what?" Iris wondered, but shook her head clear. "Never mind, I don't care – give back what you stole! Do you work for Pryce?"

"The Mask of Ice?" Wes asked with a scoff. "I have some dignity left in me, y'know. Trust me, kid: if you knew what I was doing, you wouldn't be here preaching at me. Besides, I already gave that fancy ball to the one who hired me."

"Who?" Iris pressed, hand on Fraxure's Poké Ball.

Wes, however, took instant notice of that and pulled his own coat back a bit, revealing a row of five Poké Balls attached to his belt. The message was clear, so Iris let go of hers.

"I like you," Wes remarked. "A fast learner, I see. And to your question, don't know, don't care. I needed the money."

"What are you doing here, then?"

"The same thing you're doing," Wes said vaguely. "Really, it's in my best interests to help you guys rid the world of the Masked Man and stop Mewtwo before we have another Pokémon Lab massacre in our hands. I can see you don't trust me, but it doesn't matter. My current concern is helping Kris out."

"She says you've followed her around," Iris said suspiciously, "which, as far as I know, is still illegal, not to mention just plain creepy and douchey to do. Are you just asking for a restraining order?"

"I don't _enjoy_ tailing her," Wes said disinterestedly. "It's what I have to do. And that's not a job – it's what I dedicated the rest of my life to. I bet you don't believe that either, but... hm?"

Wes stopped talking. Instead, he turned to look behind his shoulder, then looked wildly in every direction. If this was an attempt to distract her, Iris wasn't fooled.

"Care to elaborate?" Iris asked. "Why do you _have_ to-"

"Shh!"

Wes rudely silenced Iris and raised his hand. Iris grudgingly fell silent and looked around her, but didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary. Just music, but it played all over the place during the conference.

"What is it?" Iris asked in annoyance.

"Don't you hear it?" Wes asked with a slight quiver. "That catchy dance tune that's constantly rising in volume?"

Iris frowned. "What are you...?"

But then Iris heard it too. The music seemed to come from the hallway Iris and Wes were in and seemed to get steadily closer. It was a combination of a latin dance song and something with lots of bass you'd hear at a nightclub.

And it was indeed very catchy.

Wes cringed and spread his arms in front of Iris as he saw what was approaching with the music. It was a very tall and slender man with a gigantic afro that looked like a Poké Ball, wearing a flashy leisure suit and huge, tacky sunglasses. He was flanked on both sides by a Ludicolo, both of them walking with the same cocky strut as the man.

"Oh no," Wes muttered. "Oh please no. It's Miror B."

"Who?"

"No time to explain, but if you know what's best for you, stay back."

" _Wesleyyyyy~,"_ Miror B. sang obnoxiously as he stopped, the two Ludicolo still doing dance moves next to him. "Darling, I'm so sorry to interrupt your date, and I'll be going in a jiffy, but I need that little something you're carrying. Oh, and Wesley, dear, no offense, but isn't she a little young? I mean, I know you did some shady stuff but _sheesh_!"

"Hey, I'm 17!" Iris yelled at Miror B. from behind Wes' back. "You don't have to remind me that I'm short, I can see that every day! Also, date, what the hell?"

"Look, I thought Nascour told you idiots what was up," Wes told Miror B., positioning himself between him and Iris for reasons Iris couldn't comprehend – neither the guy nor his Pokémon seemed very dangerous.

"Ugh, why does everyone assume we do _everything_ together?" Miror B. sighed theatrically. "It was me who dumped him, anyway. And didn't you two use to be an item, anyway?"

"Like, once," Wes grumbled. "It's too bad I didn't know he and you were messed-up psychos back then."

Miror B. laughed dramatically, throwing his head back in a way that looked like his neck had cracked. "'Psychos'?" he howled. "Oh, that's rich coming from _you_ , Wesley. But I'm not interested in catching up. Give me the Griseous Orb, please."

"As I was saying," Wes said patiently, "it's gone. Has been for a week and half. I tossed it into the ocean."

Miror B. just stood still staring at Wes. Iris didn't know what they were talking about or if she should even be there. Finally, Miror B. sighed again and took off his horrible sunglasses to rub his eyes.

"Unbelievable," he complained. "Do you know the effort it took to track you down? Or how much certain people were willing to pay for that thing? I can't go back to Orre with a negative score, though... you, short girl, do you have anything valuable on you?" Miror B. asked Iris.

"No!" she snapped.

"Shame," Miror B. said with a shrug. "Patience and losing graciously weren't ever virtues I could possess, really." He put his sunglasses back on. "So, I'm really sorry, but I have to kill you both now, or I'll just totally wig out or something. No offense."

Wes smirked at him.

"Oh no," he said. "You cretins have pushed me around enough! I survived a hell you couldn't even imagine while your biggest challenge has been finding a store that sells your brand of hair products! Come and get me if you want!"

Wes tossed two of his Poké Balls into the air, letting them hit the ceiling. As the Poké Balls opened, an Espeon and a Umbreon came out, launching themselves at the two Ludicolo from the air. Unfortunately, the Ludicolo were ready. Umbreon's attack was blocked by Protect, while the other one used Fake Out on Espeon to stop its attack. Next, on Miror B.'s command, the two Ludicolo launched a simultaneous Hydro Pump attack. Wes tackled Iris to the ground to get away from the attack, but Espeon and Umbreon were launched into the air and throw against the wall by the water pressure.

"That scrotumscraper!" Wes grunted. "You okay?" he asked Iris.

"Yeah," Iris grunted, Wes having knocked the air out of her lungs. "T-thanks."

Miror B. laughed flamboyantly and did a little dance number by himself. "What was that about surviving hell, I couldn't hear over the sound of your Pokémon almost drowning!"

Wes didn't waste time thinking of a clever retort, but instead charged towards Miror B. with his fist at the ready, only for Miror B. to effortlessly dodge the attack and counter with a devastating kick, letting out an 'oooooohhh' sound as he kicked Wes in the gut, leaving him gasping for breath on the floor. Miror B. then stamped on his back, knocking him flat on his face. Miror B. put his high-heeled boot on Wes' neck and pressed down a bit, prompting an agonized grunt from Wes.

"Well, Wesley, I hope you finally realized your place in the world," Miror B. laughed. "You and your little girlfriend liked to think you were the hot stuff in Orre, but throw you against me or Nascour or Venus and you're _nothing_! Just an insect waiting to be crushed and casually scraped off my _beautiful_ boot! Do you have any last words?"

"Dual Chop!"

"That doesn't sound like _oh Poké Balls that girl!_ "

Iris had let Fraxure out of its Poké Ball, letting it charge at the first Ludicolo and bring it down with a brutal strike. Before the other Ludicolo could defend itself, Fraxure struck at it too. Soon enough, both were knocked unconscious. Gasping, Miror B. took his boot off Wes and focused on Iris instead.

"You ruined their perfectly synced choreography!" Miror B. wailed and cracked his knuckles. "Looks like it's high time I showed you _Miror B.'s Retro Groove-_ "

Fraxure then swiped its tusk lightly at Miror B.'s chest, barely touching him but still cutting open his leisure suit and exposing copious amounts of red chest hair. Stunned by this, Miror B. recalled his two Ludicolo and cleared his throat.

"Well..." he said. "Come to think of it, I might have left the iron on back in Orre... Wes, do come visit some time and... yeah. Bye."

With one last 'woo', Miror B. turned around and ran away – fabulously so. Shaking her head, Iris went over to Wes and helped him get up. He didn't seem to be physicaly harmed, but his face was bright red and sweaty and he avoided eye contact with Iris, just coughed awkwardly.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"Should I even ask who that was?" Iris said.

"It's a really long story," Wes said evasively.

"Then should I ask who asked you steal the GS Ball from Kris?"

"It's a really long story."

"Is it even worth the trouble asking what that 'Griseous' thing was?"

"It's a – hey, is that Kris on TV?"

Iris wondered if that was a feeble attempt to distract her so Wes could run away, but Wes instead returned his unconscious Pokémon and looked at the monitor hanging from the ceiling. Kris had been battling against a bird keeper with a mohawk. According to the stats on the screen, Kris only had one Pokémon left while Vance still had two.

"Oh dear," Iris lamented. "Fraxure, turn up the volume a bit!"

Wes watched in awe as Fraxure kicked the wall on the opposite side and launched itself toward the TV, stabbing the volume button with its tasks and raising the volume to an audible level. Kris had sent out her Honchkrow while Vance was battling with a Xatu.

"... _great timing with those commercials_!" DJ Mary narrated. " _To the folks just tuning in:_ _Vance_ _'_ _s Fearow made quick work of Kris' Sandshrew_ _during the_ _first battle,_ _but was beaten by her Shuckle, who deflected back its attacks like it was nothing. Shuckle soon fell to the psychic powers of Vance's Xatu,_ _however, leaving Kris with just o_ _ne Pokémon._ "

" _Kris from New Bark Town has the type advantage_ ," said DJ Ben. " _But_ _so far she hasn't been able to land a hit on Xatu_."

"Why are these commentaries always so asinine?" Wes muttered, but Iris shushed him.

Kris ordered Honchkrow to use Swagger, meaning the Honchkrow landed, crossed its wings and looked intimidating as it glowed red, making Xatu's eyes crossed. Somehow, though, the effect did the same to Honchkrow, who started stumbling around as well. Kris was clearly on the verge of losing her temper.

"What just happened?" Wes wondered.

"Xatu has-" Iris began.

" _Incredible!_ " said DJ Ben enthusiastically. " _Xatu's Magic Bounce ability deflected the confusion back at Honchkrow. This could be it!_ "

"Yeah, that," Iris said. "Come on, Kris, remember what you learned..."

Xatu's wings glowed and started reflecting light as it prepared for a Steel Wing attack. But as the confused Xatu rushed towards Honchkrow, the attack landed on the ground instead. This allowed Honchkrow to use Pursuit, but it missed too. Both Pokémon couldn't act in their confusion until Kris ordered Honchkrow to use Haze, puffing up a large black cloud.

" _Honchkrow's Haze has cleared both Pokémon of their confusion, but both have been hurt, too. How long can they last?_ "

Vance ordered a Miracle Eye, making Xatu's other eye glow bright purple. He then ordered a Psychic, but Kris retorted with a Faint Attack. Honchkrow's speed training paid off, as it disappeared from its spot and dodged the Psychic, slamming itself against Xatu before the psychic-type could even react, knocking it out.

Vance retorted by sending out a red and white feathered Pokémon, even smaller than the Xatu, that carried around a large bag for some reason.

" _Well... this is an unexpected strategy,_ " DJ Mary narrated. " _Vance sends out Delibird, frequently considered_ _by experts –_ _and by experts, I mean nerds – to be the weakest of all birds._ _Is Vance's bag of tricks finally empty, or does Delibird have a hidden strategy in its sack?_ "

" _Ahaha... that was horrible, Mary_."

Delibird didn't look like much, but Honchkrow was exhausted, and barely dodged the Ice Beam attack the Delibird launched its away. Kris commanded it to fly up into the air, making use of Delibird's inability, but Delibird retorted by grabbing something from its bag. That something was a shimmering, rainbow-colored orb that it launched towards Honchkrow in mid-flight, resulting in a brightly colored explosion that knocked Honchkrow on the ground.

" _Amazing! Delibird's signature attack, Present, did a real number on Honchkrow!_ "

" _Indeed it did – but wait,_ _Honchkrow has not been declared incapable to battle yet._ _How much more can Kris from New Bark whip out of her Pokémon_?"

"Come on, Kris, don't give up," Iris cheered quietly. She noticed Wes was watching the battle intently next to her, not saying a word.

And Kris didn't. Though Iris and Wes couldn't hear what she told it, Kris managed to get Honchkrow moving again, though with much reduced mobility. Iris hoped Kris would remember what she had told her during the training: if there was any real danger to her Pokémon, she should withdraw it immediately.

Kris ordered Wing Attack, but Vance retorted with another Present. Delibird was faster this time, managing to hit Honchkrow with another shimmering orb of energy.

But when the orb made contact, it didn't explode, but simply broke apart when it touched Honchkrow and sprinkled energy all over it. The moment that happened, Honckrow seemed to be fighting fit again, and Kris was quick to notice this, ordering a Night Slash.

With one swift slash, Delibird was knocked out. It staggered around for a bit, then finally collapsed on the ground, the referee putting up a flag and declaring Delibird unable to battle. The crowd cheered, the judges applauded and the DJ's milked this mundane turn of events as much as they could.

" _Delibird is down and out!_ _Vance from Ecruteak City has been defeated, and Kris from New Bark Town is victorious and will continue to the second round! Who'd a thunk it?_ _I mean, she looked pretty weak to me, and starting the battle out with a Sandshrew..._ "

" _Ben, you're still on!_ "

" _Oh, fu-_ "

"Woo!" Iris cheered and applauded along with the crowds as she watched Kris hug Honchkrow in relief and recall it. "Awesome!"

Wes shrugged. "The fact that she won? Sure. But if that's the way she's going to battle, I wonder how long she'll last. I mean, the guy was a bird keeper, I could have beaten him with both hands behind my – ow! It hurts to talk..."

"That guy sure got you, huh?" Iris said, but didn't have the heart to mock him further. "You okay?"

"Fine, I totally wasn't utterly humiliated," Wes grunted.

Iris frowned. "Why, because a _girl_ had to save you? Sheesh, dude, you have some petty problems."

"Not that," Wes said as he rolled his eyes. "Believe me, that has happened many times before. I mean that I've been through so much since I last fought against Miror B. and he still trounced me. And I failed to protect anyone from him."

Kris had warned Iris about how weaselly the guy could be, but as Iris looked at him blame himself for what happened, grinding his teeth and holding his stomach, she felt that, at the moment anyway, Wes had been sincere. Unsure of what to do, as Iris still didn't quite trust him yet, she awkwardly patted him on the shoulder.

"Um, there, there," she said. "I _am_ next in line to be a gym leader back in Unova, after all, so you don't need to protect me from anyone."

"A gym leader?" Wes remarked, sounding actually impressed. "Wow, so we have you to thank that Kris even got into this tournament at all."

Iris started to fiddle with her hair and looked away, but still couldn't help but to smile at the praise.

"I may have taught her a trick or two," she said.

"Clearly," Wes said. "Cute _and_ tough – I'm surprised we didn't get a chance to talk sooner."

Iris raised her eyebrows at him. "Look, um, Wesley-"

"Wes, please."

"-yeah, Wes, okay. If you're trying to spy on Kris some more, and you're trying to do it through me, you have to do a _lot_ better than that."

"Not everything is about her," Wes said. "What I'm saying this, maybe I can tell you about the GS Ball and exactly why I did what I did..."

_**Wednesday** _

The second round of the three-on-three preliminaries was already underway. The night before, the group had celebrated Kris' victory over Vance – until Blaine had reminded her that she only won by a nose, and that she should spend her remaining time preparing for the next round. That was especially true because Lyra, Silver and Ethan Gold had made it to the next round as well, as had the mysterious young woman with a black mask Iris had seen earlier. She entered the tournament without a name, and because she had eight badges, no one had asked questions, but Blaine had been sure to take a note of her, whom the announcers had dubbed 'Nameless'. She was a woman with long brown hair wearing a short black dress and white gloves who liked to showboat and talk trash at her opponent. She had good reason, to though: as Professor Elm and Blaine watched her battle on the second round, she once again made it through without much effort.

Elm and Blaine were currently sitting in the audience, Elm holding large amounts of snacks ranging from popcorn and giant cups of soda to greasy french fries and even deep-fried butter in his lap. Blaine was sitting next to him, arms crossed and grumbling something about the safety arrangements. He had assured Elm that he wasn't hungry, but glanced at his food with longing every once in a while.

"Kris and Lyra are probably in the waiting room," Blaine remarked as Nameless and the poor sap she had defeated and humiliated left the arena, "but where the hell are Iris and Leaf?"

"Haven't seen 'em," Elm said with his mouth full of food. "You sure you don't want-"

"I'm fine!" Blaine snapped. "And you shouldn't have so much, either. You should concentrate on keeping an eye out for bad guys. Also, that stadium food will give you the runs."

"Well, it's just that _somebody_ has forced us to do research day and night, so-"

"Yeah, yeah, suck it up," Blaine said. "I swear, I'm about to lose my patience with those damn kids! No one seems to take my security concerns seriously!"

"We have two Champions and half a dozen highly trained and very deadly agents of the International Police doing that for us – on top of the usual security," Elm listed off. "That, and the stadium is full of some of the best trainers there are."

"And none of them will stand a chance if Mewtwo shows up," Blaine pointed out cynically. "Also, based on what Iris told me, a guy with a leisure suit and, I quote, 'incomprehensible amounts of swag' managed to sneak in anyway and put her in real danger. And yet she still insisted on taking him out on her own."

"She's like that," Elm remarked. "They're all like that. Professional Pokémon trainers are a proud bunch."

The conversation was interrupted by a rough, old voice speaking to them: "Is this seat taken?"

"No, go ahead, sir," Elm said politely as the old man sat next to Blaine.

Blaine looked to his left and flinched when he saw a serious-looking, gray-haired man wearing what looked like a blue martial arts uniform sit next to him.

"Hey," Blaine told him. "Aren't you the ball guy? I mean, that guy from Azalea Town – Kurt, right?"

"The same," Kurt responded, crossing his arms like Blaine. "And you're friends of Kris?"

"Ehh," Blaine and Elm said simultaneously with a shrug.

"I'll take what I can get," Kurt muttered. "Professor Elm, I do remember meeting you once – always a pleasure. And you must be Dr. Blaine. I've heard a lot about you."

"I'm sure," Blaine grunted and kept his arms crossed. "Sorry, I don't shake hands out in the open."

"That's, um, respectable," Kurt said. "I'm just saying, though, that even though I'm an old friend of professor Oak's, I don't necessarily blame people for accidents that happened years ago. People make mistakes all the time, be it raising a Pokémon, or raising a son..."

Elm pushed his glasses up and looked concerned. "You heard about your son, then? Did you have any idea-"

"That Gideon worked for Team Rocket?" Kurt asked with his eyes on the battlefield – another battle was already in progress. "Yes. Three years ago, he called to check up on his daughter and me, and to complain about his boss at Silph. He... asked me if he saw a future in doing work to Team Rocket instead. I warned him about it. After the Silph takeover, he called me again to assure he had nothing to do with that and that he learned his lesson and wouldn't consider it again. But he already said too much, and I won't be fooled by my own son. Still, I had _hoped_ that after Giovanni fell, he would have considered leaving the life of crime."

Blaine and Elm nodded furiously, listening intently, as no one worth mentioning was battling at the moment.

"Anyway, after I heard Gideon was arrested," Kurt continued, "I did some research into the GS Ball, the one I asked Kris to bring to my son. From what I've been told, the ball is not with him nor the Masked Man, but in a safe place."

"Kris told me it was stolen," Elm commented.

Kurt nodded. "This mysterious person said that the theft was arranged to keep it out of wrong hands. It's very possible that the Poké Ball has been crafted using wings of Ho-Oh and Lugia, making it possible to capture almost _any_ Pokémon with it and contain it, making it even better than the fabled Master Ball."

Blaine started stroking his chin.

"Does the Masked Man want to control Mewtwo with it?" he pondered. "Or does have he have something else in mind? Moreover, the GS Ball would be a perfect way to subdue Mewtwo without unnecessary violence."

"It's, um, worth a shot," Elm said. "I don't want to hurt it either-"

Elm was cut off by the steadily increasing volume of the excited narration by the DJ's – another battle was about to start:

" _And welcome back, ladies, gentlemen and those who don't consider themselves to be either!_ _The second round of the Silver Conference preliminaries has been kicked off with some sensational battles and we're just getting started! Next up, Missile from Blackthorn City will battle against, um... Sliver from Cherrygrove City!_ "

"Sliver?" Blaine repeated, observing the contestants through his binoculars. "Is that-?"

"It is," said Elm, who was frowning at the giant screen that currently showed the image of a sulky young man with red hair. "It's that guy who stole my Chikorita!"

"Oh, crêpe!" Blaine growled. "I recognize that other one! He was causing trouble at the Ruins of Alph earlier!"

As much as Missile loved to draw attention to himself, he had abandoned his Team Rocket uniform and was instead wearing a fancy tuxedo, an odd choice for a Pokémon battle. Missile sent out his Victreebel, while Silver responded with a Magneton. Though Blaine, Elm and Kurt couldn't hear what was going on in the battlefield all the way to the back row, especially what with the announcers going on, they could still see the difference in battling style: Missile was enthusiastically giving orders to his Pokémon, waving his arms around frantically, while Silver stood completely still and gave his commands without even changing his expression much.

To everyone's surprise, Missile's Victreebel managed to bring Magneton down with Sleep Powder, then spammed Razor Leaf until Magneton was knocked out. Silver hadn't bothered returning it when it was asleep and didn't even seem to register the fact that his Magneton had lost. He merely returned the electric-type and sent out a Golbat instead.

Silver had beaten his last foe easily, but Missile was giving him a bit more trouble. Victreebel went down eventually, but still gave Golbat a good challenge. Missile's next Pokémon was Beedrill, who actually managed to outspeed Golbat and defeat it by first confusing it with Supersonic and then slashing it repeatedly with its spikes.

Silver's final Pokémon was his Mantine, who took down Beedrill with little trouble, easily dodging all of the bug Pokémon's attacks and retorting with a Bubblebeam that took the Beedrill down. Missile's final Pokémon was his Ditto, who immediately transformed into another Mantine.

The two Mantine circled around each other, each attacking with physical blows, but doing very little damage, eventually wearing each other out. Missile had apparently studied Mantine's moves and told Ditto to use Confuse Ray, which temporarily slowed Mantine down. Silver didn't seem too bothered, and instead ordered Mantine to use Agility, allowing it to dodge the attacks the Ditto-Mantine kept throwing in its way. Finally, Silver ordered Mantine to heal the damage it took with Aqua Ring and take Ditto-Mantine down with Ice Beam, the referee declaring Ditto unable to battle as it transformed back to its usual shape.

Missile ran over to his exhausted Pokémon while Silver just recalled his Mantine. Even through the giant screen, though, Elm and Blaine noticed that Silver kept watching Missile take Ditto in his arms and console it over its loss before leaving the arena. Over the enthusiastic chatter of the announcers, two security guards marched over to Missile and escorted him away for some reason.

**~o~O~o**

Kris, who had to use the facilities on account of her nervousness, returned to the waiting room just in time to see security guards dragging Missile away as he yelled obscenities at them. Lyra, who had unfortunately noticed Kris' entrance, walked over to her to explain the situation.

"Some people _really_ want to compete in this thing," Lyra observed as she crossed her arms and watched Missile being dragged away. "Apparently that guy has been stealing badges all over Johto, basically taking them one at a time at different places to avoid getting caught, but I guess showing his face in the tournament wasn't the smartest thing."

"And just like that, I _almost_ believe in karma," Kris muttered.

"Almost?" Lyra wondered.

"My belief will be sealed once _you_ get struck by lightning," Kris remarked. "Please tell me it'll happen soon..."

Lyra scowled at Kris and almost looked like she wanted to reply with a devastating comeback, but instead she just turned away from Kris with eyes closed and sneered.

"I guess it's impossible for you to be civil," she said shakily. "I was about to wish you good luck and everything!"

"No you weren't," Kris said.

"No, I wasn't," Lyra admitted. "But I admit that I thought you'd fail in the first match. You're, um, doing alright."

Kris frowned. "Uh... thanks?"

"You're welcome," Lyra said evenly and looked at Kris in anticipation.

Kris didn't get it. "What?"

"Well, don't you have any comments on _my_ progress?"

"Um, no, I don't, if that's all right with you."

Lyra's lip quivered a bit as she stared at Kris, but eventually she just stuck her nose up and stormed away huffily, leaving Kris staring after in utter confusion. Wondering just what exactly had Lyra expected her to say, Kris' thoughts were interrupted when her name was called – she realized she hadn't remembered to look up who her opponent would be.

"Kris from New Bark!" the handler yelled into the crowd. "You'll be battling Anzu from, uh... unspecified, next. Get ready, you two!"

Soon enough, the current battle was over. Arcade Star Dahlia had just finished her opponent in record time and was immediately surrounded by autograph- and photo-hungry fans. Kris had seen her battle through the highlight reels she had watched yesterday (her battle with Vance hadn't made it to the highlights) and had been impressed and frightened – she'd rather take on Ethan, since at least there was a _chance_ she'd humiliate him in battle.

Eventually, it was Kris' turn to step into the arena and meet her opponent, Anzu. She was, by outward appearance, anyway, a young, timid woman wearing a kimono whose face was covered with makeup, red strips over a white foundation. At first, Kris wondered if she was one of the Kimono Girls, but she had made sure to memorize all of their names and didn't remember an 'Anzu' being there.

Either way, when the referee ordered the contestants to get ready, Kris prepared herself. Since Anzu had made it through the preliminaries, she wasn't going to go down easily. Kris took a deep breath and made sure to drown out the chatter of the announcers and the cheering of the crowd. Making use of the meditation techniques she had learned, Kris put her focus on one thing only: the battle at hand.

"Honchkrow, go!"

Anzu responded by sending out an Ariados, an odd move, but Kris wasn't going to doubt herself now. She immediately ordered Honchkrow to use Wing Attack, which landed and did obvious damage, but didn't stop Ariados. Barely audibly, Anzu whispered out her attack – Kris couldn't even hear it, but Ariados clearly did, shooting out purple liquid from its mouth and drenching Honchkrow with it. With no idea what the move did, Kris had to resort to asking:

"You okay, Honchkrow?"

The bird Pokémon nodded, apparently unharmed, but Anzu just giggled at Kris infuriatingly.

"Use Night Slash!" Kris ordered.

Honchkrow's claws glowed dark purple as it struck Ariados with them, once again doing damage, Anzu showing no signs of trying to stop the attack. Instead, Ariados' counter was shooting sticky substance into the air, spreading the battlefield with it and trapping Honchkrow in it, prompting Anzu to giggle even more.

"Honchkrow, move!" Kris yelled. "Use Faint Attack!"

But Honchkrow was stuck, and Ariados finished it with one blow by stabbing it with the spike on its head. Honckrow went down swiftly and Kris recalled it, sending out her Chandelure instead.

Again, Ariados spat out more sticky substance, this time directly at Chandelure, but failed to trap it. Kris responded with Flamethrower, which knocked Ariados out instantly.

Anzu's next Pokémon was Muk – apparently she was going with a poison motif. Kris ordered Chandelure to use Flamethrower again, but the effect was negligible. Muk used Toxic in turn, weakening Chandelure but causing no direct damage. Kris was getting irritated by now, especially when all Anzu could do was giggle and stare directly at Kris, as if daring her to make the next move.

 _All right. I'll play along with your game_.

"Will-O-Wisp!" Kris yelled.

Chandelure fired a blue fireball at Muk, and even though it moved sluggishly, Muk didn't make any attempts to dodge, and was surrounded by a bright blue flame. Kris didn't know Anzu's angle, but she was satisfied, as there was no way she could-

"Mud Bomb!"

Kris heard Anzu's voice properly for the first time now and couldn't think of anything but a quick 'dodge', but Chandelure wasn't quick enough and was blasted with a large glob of brown mud. The attack brought Chandelure down with one fell swoop, something Kris couldn't comprehend – who _was_ she?

Kris had only entered one more Pokémon for this battle – though quite honestly, she had hoped Honchkrow and Chandelure would have taken care of things. But desperate times and all that...

Kris sent out Shrew, who was even rubbing his eyes when he got out and seemed confused as to why he was there in the first place. Kris couldn't blame it – it got beaten easily by Vance's Fearow yesterday and Kris hadn't considered using it much again.

"All right, Shrew, let's start with our patented move!" Kris said confidently.

Shrew struck Muk with another Defense Curl and Rollout combo, but Muk used Harden before it was completed, the attack once again doing very little. However, the burn from Chandelure lingered on it too – it couldn't attack physically, so all Kris had to do was wear it down.

Anzu ordered Muk to used Mud Bomb, prompting a barrage of mud globs at Shrew, who managed to dodge most of them and use its claws and tails to block the rest. What Shrew lacked in strength, it made up with being faster than most of its kind. With a Dig attack, Muk finally fell.

Anzu's next Pokémon was a Venomoth. At that moment, something seemed to click in Kris' brain, but for now, all she cared about was winning. Shrew just scored its first KO in the tournament – time to show what it could really do.

"Sand-Attack!" Kris ordered.

"Double Team!" Anzu retorted.

Venomoth evaded the attack and made a dozen duplicates of itself, all of whom started spinning around the very confused Sandshrew. Venomoth was just too fast, and would no doubt make its move soon enough... but Kris hadn't exactly sat around with her thumb up her rear last week.

"Sandstorm!"

Stabbing its claws into the ground, Shrew whipped up a sandstorm using the sand and dust around the arena, the sand managing to clear away the Venomoth copies and temporarily blind the real one. Shrew then moved in with a Slash attack, but this didn't knock Venomoth out yet.

"Stun Spore!" Anzu ordered.

"Rapid Spin!" Kris countered.

Though Venomoth tried to paralyze Shrew with a cloud orange mist, Shrew curled itself to a ball and started spinning in place, blowing the spores away. Anzu wasn't giggling anymore, but instead focused on the battle intently.

"Signal Beam!" she yelled.

"Rock Slide!" Kris yelled back.

Kris was risking it – Venomoth was still faster and Shrew took a while to charge its unwieldy attack. Venomoth's beam attack struck Shrew, but one attack wasn't enough to bring it down, allowing it to blast Venomoth with a barrage of rocks, finally knocking it out.

The crowd and the DJ's went wild, and Kris exhaled in relief. She couldn't cheer for herself yet, though, as there was something she needed confirmation for. Anzu, recalling her fainted Venomoth, seemed to agree. Rubbing her face with her sleeve, she took off her makeup, and as she removed her black wig to reveal a head of tied-back purple hair, Kris' suspicions were made true.

"I had to see it for myself," Janine remarked. "It's no wonder you made Team Rocket's life hard."

"I've wanted to you ask you something for a while now," said Kris, who had long since learned to just roll with unexpected events. "You cold have easily killed me back in Mahogany Town. Why didn't you?"

"Team Rocket paid me a lot to kill you," Janine said simply. "Someone else paid me more to make sure you survive at least a little longer. I don't usually go back on my contracts – it tends to complicate things. But I wasn't going to let that masked clown and his cronies desecrate our sacred hideout."

The DJ's seemed confused, but Kris noticed that at the honorary judge table, Lance had spotted who Janine was and had left the table, making his way calmly to the stadium. Janine had her back turned at him, and she couldn't possibly escape his grasp, but she just smiled.

"He's coming to arrest me now, isn't he?" Janine smirked, surprising Kris. "There's nothing you can get past heroic types like old Lance – you know he put a warrant up for my arrest after recognizing me in Mahogany Town. By now I'm guessing they've replaced me at the Fuchsia Gym. Tch, too bad."

Janine pointed at Kris.

"You know, when you showed up at Azalea Town, you were nothing but a convenient patsy the Mask of Ice could use. A nobody, you could say. But now you've become a real nuisance for him and more important than you even know. Before I leave, I have to tell you something..."

Lance was on the stadium and was making his way towards Janine, Poké Ball in hand. Kris didn't want Janine to escape, but she needed to hear what she had to say, forcing her to bite her lip and avoid doing anything.

"Have you heard about something called the seed of Darkrai?" Janine asked smoothly, prompting Kris to shake her head. "Hmm, too bad. There are people with lots of interest in them – people way above even the Mask. People who have them are said to be able to go a long way, and it's constantly speculated they've influenced people who've done some amazing things – like, say, a former champion who disappeared not too long ago. Food for thought."

Kris wanted to ask more, but Lance yelled at something to Janine, who pulled something small out of her sleeve and tossed it at Kris before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. As Kris opened her fist, she was surprised to see what she had just caught: a badge shaped like a fuchsia heart.

_**Thursday** _

Like the last two days, Kris was in the waiting room, shivering as she waited for the match-ups to be announced. She had gotten farther than she thought was possible: the top eight contestants. And her last opponent had been a gym leader! This time, Kris was joined by Iris, Blaine, professor Elm and Leaf who gave her words of encouragement and advice and generally kept her company, Kris having felt insecure when almost everyone in the room had people to cheer them on. Arcade Star Dahlia and gym leader Maylene had their fans, as did the famous Pete Pebbleman. Ethan was, of course, surrounded by Joey and various other leeches.

Silver, however, sulked quietly in the shadowy corner while Lyra was also alone, furiously washing her hands in the bathroom. The mysterious 'Nameless', who had also made it past the preliminaries, wasn't in the room either – apparently she was staying true to her stage persona or something.

Finally, one of the large screens on the walls activated and showed the mugshots of the remaining eight contestants. Silver would be going up against Ethan (Kris wasn't sure which one she wanted to lose), Maylene would be fighting Dahlia, Pebbleman would be facing 'Nameless', which meant...

"Oh, wow," Iris said when Kris and Lyra's mugshots appeared side by side.

Kris glanced at the bathroom door – Lyra would no doubt see the match-up screen once she came out.

_If she doesn't come out, does that mean I win by forfeit?  
_

No. This was what Kris had wanted. Many weeks ago, Iris had consoled Kris with the tantalizing possibility that Kris would be remodeling Lyra's face in the Silver Conference. And Kris had beaten two opponents she couldn't have beaten before – she _had_ gotten better. Granted, on the scoreboard, Kris was shown to have the least points out of all the eight contestants. Okay, her previous battles were three-on-three matches while this time, she would be facing five of Lyra's Pokémon. And Shrew would not battle against Scorch – Kris wondered if Lyra had taken this into account.

The others waited for Kris to react somehow, but Kris said nothing, merely clenched her fists and bit her lip, worried that if she opened her mouth, her breakfast would come out.

_No. This is what I wanted... right?_

"Um, come to think of it, perhaps we should get going if we wish to see the battle," Elm suggested quickly when he saw the look on Kris' face.

"Of course, I've got to make sure to double-check the entrances," Blaine grunted.

"Yeah, uh, I should pop by the bathroom real quick if I want to see the battle," Leaf commented and left the room after Elm and Blaine.

"Yeah, and I have to... be somewhere," Iris fumbled, but gave Kris a quick thumbs up before leaving.

Kris wasn't paying attention, though. The bathroom doors were opened and a thoroughly pale-looking Lyra came out. As Kris had expected, Lyra's eyes drifted to the match-up screen first. She stared at it for a few seconds before her eyes met with Kris'.

 _'Don't hold back_ ', _you said. You're going to regret those words_ , Kris thought.

**~o~O~o~**

Meanwhile, on Johto's Route 45, no too far from Mt. Silver. Route 45 was a winding downhill mountain road that followed a river flowing from the mountains to the north. It was unstable, hazardous and very complicated to navigate. It was thoroughly recommended one would cross this route by using Pokémon or, if one had the stamina for it, on foot.

Naturally, Eusine of the Legendary Pokémon Society traveled with his expensive red Porsche which inevitably had broken down while climbing uphill and was currently parked dangerously in the slope, steam rising out of its engine. Eusine kicked his car in frustration, but his only result was a sore toe. This time, he had been sure that the blue glitter he had seen was the one and only Suicune, easily running Route 45 uphill, a feat only experienced hikers could pull off. Eusine tried to pursue it with his car, but what had ensued wasn't pretty.

"How could this happen to me?!" Eusine wailed out loud, hoping someone would be there to listen to his complaining.

But it was unusually quiet on that route. It seems like most of Johto had either went to see the Silver Conference or they were watching it from home, work or wherever. Eusine put his nose up at such things – how could people waste their time grinding their Pokémon while the fate of everything was at stake? Granted, nobody believed Eusine when he had told Morty and the Wise Trio that Suicune had tried to warn them of a cataclysmic disaster and had merely blamed him for attempting to capture it for himself instead of subduing and interrogating it somehow.

_As if those peons understand how the great Suicune's mind works._

Eusine couldn't help but to think about that New Barkian girl, Kris. For the first time, Eusine felt there was another person in the world who understood Suicune, even if he didn't want to admit it. And one way or another, Kris always showed up when Suicune was concerned. If there was indeed truth to her claim about seeing Suicune when she was a child...

Eusine sighed. What difference did it make now? Suicune was probably long gone now, and the chances of it suddenly appearing in front of him were-

Eusine felt water being splashed on him as something big emerged from the river, landing only a few yards away from him.

Finally – his dream had come true. Suicune stood before him, the suddenly blowing wind making its magnificent purple mane move while sunlight reflected off the blue, crystalline crest on its forehead. For a moment, Eusine was going for a Poké Ball, but his brain caught up with his hands for once.

"Ah ah!" he said quietly, staying entirely still as he and Suicune stared at each other. "Fool me twice, shame on Eusine! You see, I have studied you a lot and upgraded my hardware since we met in Ecruteak City. You're going to be mine one way or another, Suicune, and I don't care if you can't speak my language – I'm making you tell me everything you know!"

Eusine spread his arms wide, and devices extended from his sleeves. The other one was a short but sharp metal blade, while the other one was a cannon that fired electrified nets. It was useless against huge Pokémon like Slaking or Wailord, but against those that were Suicune's size or smaller, it would do just fine.

"See this, Suicune?" Eusine asked. "We humans have this thing called modern technology. Even Poké Balls are just relics compared to the newest scientific developments of the Legendary Pokémon So-"

Suicune leapt away from Eusine, jumping to the other side of the river with one leap. Eusine cursed.

"Why can't I ever shut up?!"

But Suicune didn't run away. It stayed on the other side of the river, staring at Eusine, who stared back in confusion. Slowly, he lowered his arms and allowed the blade and the net cannon to return.

"You want me to do something?" Eusine asked the Pokémon. "Wait, you want me to... use you as target practice?"

Suicune kept staring.

"No, wait, that's not it," Eusine muttered. "Oh, I know, you want me to draw you like one of my Kalosian girls? And you jumped a bit further away to pose... no, that's just stupid. Now let me see..."

Suicune moved further but stopped to look behind it. Eusine frowned, but then noticed the direction Suicune was heading. Behind the trees, hills and smaller mountains was the eternally snowy peak of Mt. Silver. But getting there without any transportation...

 _Of course_ , Eusine thought. _It's a test. I'm going to be tested for the right to finally face Suicune and become its master_.

"Lead the way!" Eusine yelled at the Pokémon. "I don't care if I have to climb on top of that mountain – I _will_ be the one you choose!"

**~o~O~o~**

" _Welcome, welcome and once again welcome to the last battle of the day. We've got an exciting match for you-"_

" _Let me narrate this one, Ben, you're dead weight. It's the final battle of the first elimination round, where Lyra from New Bark Town will be facing Kris,_ also _from New Bark Town. Who'd have thought a backwater like that had such representation here? Lyra is clearly ahead in the score and has demonstrated us some insane battles, but Kris was accepted into this tournament by completing the Dragon Clan's trial and has shown us she's clearly no pushover either. It looks like the battle is ready to begin, folks_!"

Kris saw the referee raise his flag. As always, she took a deep breath and drowned out all background noise. It was just her and Lyra now in the whole world. This was just like facing her back at Route 42, only this time, she would make sure to use Shrew only if it was absolutely necessary. He may have proved himself against Janine and Kris had made sure to praise him for his efforts, but Kris was certain that Lyra had done something to condition Scorch to attack him and wouldn't waste any chance to prevent Kris from battling.

Kris and Lyra stared at each other across the battlefield. Lyra had apparently gotten over her nerves by now and her expression was unusually blank. Kris couldn't help but to wonder what was going on in her head.

"Begin!" the referee announced as the flag dropped.

"Honchkrow, go!"

"Braviary, go!"

Lyra's Pokémon was apparently the evolved form of her Rufflet. Though avian like Honchkrow, it was easily twice or maybe three times as large, with large wings, a sharp beak and impressive talons along with strong legs that most likely made it a threat both on land and in the air.

"Faint Attack!" Kris ordered.

"Scary Face," Lyra said calmly and made a gesture with her hand Kris couldn't identify.

Either way, the Braviary's eyes glowed red and it made a horrifying expression at Honchkrow, who had to slow down, allowing Braviary to attack with its claws. Lyra hadn't even told it to use Slash, but it seemed to do so anyway. The first blow hit Honchkrow hard, but it managed to block the ensuing ones. Somehow, Braviary just kept on attacking, and Lyra didn't make a gesture to prevent it.

"Honchkrow, retreat and use Fly!" Kris yelled.

Lyra responded with another gesture. Braviary didn't move, but its claws briefly glowed white and sharpened, while its eyes glowed again, only white instead of red. As Honchkrow swooped in, Braviary once again used Slash, this time knocking Honchkrow on the ground, though it wasn't knocked out yet.

"Finishing move," Lyra commanded.

"Honchkrow, get up and use Pursuit, quickly!" Kris yelled.

But Honchkrow could barely move. Braviary tucked its wings and charged towards Honchkrow at reckless speed, a bright blue aura briefly glowing around it as it struck Honchkrow and knocked it out.

" _Incredible! Lyra did short work of Kris' first Pokémon in record time – it's no wonder she's gathered up a substantial fan club, if the polls are to be believed. And just listen to the audience roar! It seems Lyra does not even need to shout out her commands. How about that_?!"

The narration didn't tell Kris anything new. She had heard about this from Iris and had studied Lyra's battles from the highlight reel, though she had used vocal commands more during those matches. Had she been holding back? And how was Kris going to get around that?

Strangely enough, Lyra didn't seem ecstatic about her victory either, but her face was still unusually serious as Braviary had flown back at her. Lyra was petting her Pokémon and talking to it softly before letting Braviary return to the battlefield.

Kris scoffed. No holding back indeed.

"Shuckie, go!"


	19. Silver Conference, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Silver Conference continues as Kris finally faces off against Lyra.

**Chapter Nineteen: _Silver Conference, Part 2_**

" _The battle between challengers Kris_ _an_ _d_ _Lyra, both from New Bark Town, is underway. Which one of them will bring glory to that dumpy little village full of ignorant hayseeds that no one gives a toss ab-_ "

" _Ben, let me take over, this isn't going anywhere. Anyway, in no time at all, Lyra has already defeated one of Kris' Pokémon and only four remain. Kris has chosen a Shuckle to go against Lyra's Braviary – a bold,_ _or dare I say, dumbass_ _move if I ever heard of one_."

Kris agreed with the announcers. Shuckie's luck in battle had been uneven so far, but all Kris needed to do was get the right potential out of it. Shrew and Croc were still low on her priority list and Chandelure needed to be saved for later. Lyra took her time to attack, but eventually made another hand signal at Braviary.

Braviary charged at Shuckie recklessly, a pale blue aura surrounding it. Kris recognized the move as Superpower, but knew Shuckie couldn't dodge either – so she came up with another strategy.

"Bide!"

As Shuckie glowed red, it absorbed the power of the Superpower attack, Lyra having no time to cancel it. Before Braviary got a chance to recover from its reckless charge, Shuckie opened its mouth and blasted Braviary with a destructive red beam of energy that damaged the bird and brought it down, but didn't knock it out.

"Don't let it get away!" Kris ordered Shuckie. "Use Toxic!"

Shuckie shot a thick stream of purple liquid directly at Braviary, forcing it to inhale the fumes that ensued. Lyra signaled Braviary, and once again the bird Pokémon tucked its wings and charged at Shuckie with reckless speed. Kris ordered a Protect, and Braviary's attack stopped at an invisible wall. Braviary was knocked on the ground and visibly damaged again, both by recoil damage and the poisoning. Unable to get up, the referee announced it unable to battle.

" _Oh, brutal! One can't help but to think if_ we're _the_ real _monsters here, wouldn't you agree, Mary?_ "

" _No, Ben, Pokémon do this in the wild all the time, their physical properties are vastly different from that of humans and they hold back their true strength when engaged in friendly combat, a good way they can work out their excess energy._ _What is certain that our competitors are far from friendly, and it looks like they're evenly matched now_."

The smile one Lyra's face didn't falter when she sent out her next Pokémon, a Heracross. Wasting no time, Lyra ordered Heracross to attack with Close Combat, while Kris ordered another Bide. Enveloped in a red glow again, Shuckie absorbed the damage, and though Heracross attacked repeatedly with different moves and from different sides, Lyra ordering with just a snap of her fingers, Shuckie didn't fall and eventually released another destructive beam of energy that knocked Heracross out with one fell swoop.

As Lyra returned Heracross, she still smiled, however. Kris took a moment to register that she was actually winning – she still had four Pokémon left and Lyra only had three. What was her angle here?

Lyra then sent out her next Pokémon. It was a dark purple ghost-type with big, round eyes that reminded Kris of Lyra's Misdreavus, but it had apparently evolved. It was much larger, and instead of hair, the tufts on its head resembled a witch's hat. Lyra sensed Kris' confusion.

"It's Mismagius," Lyra explained smugly with her hands on her hips. "I saw you use those stones on your Pokémon earlier and decided to seek them out. Took a long time, though – I couldn't have done it without you, so thanks."

The cheerful tone Lyra spoke in just irritated Kris further, but Shuckie had taken down two Pokémon already – it could win this.

"Bide!" Kris ordered.

"Spite," Lyra ordered in turn.

Mismagius' eyes widened and shimmered for a moment as it glared at Shuckie, and just like that, Shuckie's red glow suddenly disappeared. The Shuckle blinked its beady eyes in confusion and looked back at its trainer, Kris responding with a shrug. Kris didn't remember what 'Spite' did. In fact, the only thing Kris remembered from her theoretical training was the difference between Magic Coat and-

_Hmm... what was it again?_

"You wouldn't think the same tactic worked forever, did you?" Lyra teased. "You were the one who told me that so long ago – have you forgotten?"

Kris gritted her teeth. "Shuckie, Rock Slide!"

But when Lyra waved at her Mismagius, the ghost-type swayed elegantly and quickly out of the way of the blast of rocks that ensued. Shuckie was just too slow for a proper assault, and Lyra was about to take advantage of that maliciously. She responded with another wordless attack, but Kris recognized the ensuing flurry of diamond-shaped rays that turned into sharp stones mid-air and exploded upon colliding with Shuckie – Power Gem. Miraculously, though, Shuckie was still in battle.

"Withdraw!" Kris ordered.

But Lyra had a counter for that, too. Though Shuckie was safe from direct attacks in its shell, Mismagius' eyes started glowing pale blue, and soon the same blue aura surrounded Shuckie as it was lifted in the air slowly, then slammed with force against the ground. Seconds later, Shuckie emerged from its shell, its eyes spinning comically, forcing Kris to return it.

_Still, it's even now, so I have nothing to fear... except the fact that I'm about to run out of good Pokémon._

Chandelure couldn't be risked yet and Croc would be a last resort, as it would only battle against Lyra's strongest Pokémon, which Kris was sure was her Typhlosion – she had seen Scorch do some real damage in the previous two rounds.

"Shrew, go!"

Seeing the Sandshrew come out and shake his head clear after a long nap, Lyra narrowed her eyes and withdrew Mismagius. Since it hadn't been declared unable to battle, Lyra could still use it later, but Kris wondered why she did that. Was she going to use Scorch now to prevent Shrew from fighting?

**~o~O~o~**

While the battle went on, a small, disguised figure sneaked into the stadium's basement, carrying large amounts of food stolen from the snack table. The figure opened the door of a random broom closet and pulled the balaclava off her face and untied her long, bushy purple hair.

Closing the door behind her, Iris turned on the lights in the broom closet, waking up the man in a blue coat and messy dark blonde hair who had been sleeping under a pile of rags, one covering his face as he slowly pulled himself on his feet.

"Hmmmh," Wes greeted Iris, tossed the rag aside and yawned with his mouth wide open. "What time is it?"

"Time for the most awesome battle in this tournament and I'm missing out because of you!" Iris complained as she poured the stolen food on Wes' lap. "Here's your breakfast. Just how long are you planning to stay down here?"

"I'm a wanted criminal," Wes reminded Iris.

"So are half the people in this tournament," Iris said with a shrug. "Don't you have any friends here, or someone you want to meet who came to watch the show?"

"You already met one of my 'friends'," Wes grumbled and put his hand on his stomach, which was sore even after two days. "Besides, Kris won't be too happy to see me either."

"I haven't told her anything," Iris said and crossed her arms, "but if I say you saved me from that guy-"

"That's a flattering way to put it," Wes smiled. "Would be more accurate to say you were the one who cleaned up my failure."

"Well... you tried, at least."

"Wish I was as optimistic."

"At least let me introduce you to Dr. Blaine and professor Elm," Iris pleaded. "I seriously don't want to lie to them anymore."

"No."

"Okay, how about this," Iris said. "You come out of this pit or I'll stop bringing you food."

His mouth full of crackers, Wes glared up at Iris, who didn't budge, just looked down at Wes with her arms crossed. Sighing, Wes put as much as food as he could in his coat's many pockets and stretched his limbs slowly before agreeing to follow Iris upstairs.

Wes was nervous to be out in the crowd full of International Police officers and security guards, but Iris literally holding his hand and happily chattering at him made him feel a little more secure. Blaine and Elm were hanging near the ticket booth with Kurt, Blaine observing every person who bought a ticket and held a metal detector he had stolen from a hapless security guard in his hand, eager to jab someone with it. The line at the booth was even longer than when the group had arrived on Sunday, as most people focused their attention to the weekend's finals.

As Iris and Wes arrived, Blaine was interrogating two paramedics who were carrying a man covered in bandages on a stretcher.

"I haven't seen you around here before," Blaine grumbled.

"You seem healthy, so there's your answer," the paramedic answered rudely. "Look, this isn't a life-or-death emergency, but this man needs to be treated!"

"Um, what happened to him?" Elm asked diplomatically as he adjusted his glasses and gazed at the man. Only the narrow, brown eyes of the man were visible.

"Trampled by eager sports fans," the other paramedic answered. "Don't worry, the security dealt with them, but these people are frickin' _crazy_!"

Blaine didn't seem satisfied, but when the bandaged man gave out a pained moan, he scanned both the paramedics and their patient quickly with the metal detector and allowed them to head for the infirmary. Kurt agreed to follow them and stand by to get a glimpse of the patient's face when Blaine insisted.

With the hassle over, Iris cleared her throat.

"Hi!" she told Blaine and Elm cheerfully. "I'd like you to meet Wes Marston from Orre. He's a-"

"That's the guy!" Blaine grunted and grabbed Wes by his shoulders, surprising the Orrean so much he couldn't struggle. "So you arrested him? Good work, Iris, I'll take him from here!"

"No!" Iris squeaked and pulled Blaine's hands away, stepping between him and Wes, who pouted and tried to get distance between him and Blaine. "He helped me earlier! And yeah, he stole that expensive Poké Ball, but it was for a good cause... right?"

"Sure," Wes said, eyes still on Blaine. "I take it this weirdo is Blaine?"

" _Doctor_ Blaine for you!" Blaine growled. "Boy, if I still had my shotgun, I'd-"

"Bring it on, old man," Wes said and brushed some hair off his face. "I'd like to see how well you can-"

It took Blaine just a few microseconds to grab Wes in a stranglehold and force him on his knees, having him groaning and pleading for mercy.

"Okay, sorry, you're not old!" Wes wailed. "Let go of me!"

"I _am_ old, little fella, at least compared to you," Blaine grunted in Wes' ear. "But with age comes wisdom, skill, confidence and a lot of other words that are probably too complicated for you!

"Why does everyone condescend me just because I'm from Orre?" Wes moaned.

Struggling himself free from Blaine's loosened grip, Wes adjusted his hair and coat, completely red in the face as he scowled at Blaine.

"I'll have you know we're not just a bunch of uncivilized road warriors!" Wes said, pointing an accusing finger up at Blaine but keeping his distance from him. "We even have a library! Okay, we _had_ a library before a bunch of, well, road warriors, blew it up, but that's besides the point!"

"I know," Blaine murmured. "I was born there. Love the desert, but there's a thing called too much of it. I studied at Pokémon HQ Lab before I moved to Kanto when I was about your age. I had to leave my boyfriend behind and everything."

"Oh," Wes said and lowered his arm. "The HQ Lab? I was born and raised there, spent most of my days at the junkyard, though. My mom works at the lab."

Blaine scowled. "She wouldn't be Lily Marston, wouldn't she?"

"Yes!" Wes smiled. "Y'know, maybe we got off on the wrong _ow you tosspot_!"

In no time at all, Wes was again brought down and forced flat on his belly while Blaine held Wes by his arm. Iris and Elm protested while the scene was completely ignored by the crowds and even security, no one daring to come near Blaine. Running the metal detector over Wes' body a few times, Blaine finally grunted in satisfaction and helped Wes back on his feet.

"Sorry," Blaine told Wes casually. "But we have to take some precautions. We're expecting Team Rocket to make their move at any moment."

"Same here," Wes said, sounding bitter when he dusted off his coat. "And now that you're here, I have something to tell you – mind if we find some place a bit more quiet?"

**~o~O~o~**

Once Lyra had withdrawn her Mismagius, Kris had fully expected her to use Scorch, but instead, she sent out what was possibly the cutest thing Kris had ever seen. It looked like Eevee, only it was mostly pink and cream in color, decorated with bows and two long feelers sticking out of it. Its eyes were big and blue, its pupils white, and it smiled cutely at Kris, almost making her not want to battle it.

 _Almost_.

"Kris, I'd like you to meet Sylveon," Lyra said casually as she petted the Pokémon, Sylveon happily wrapping its feelers around Lyra in turn. "I got it from Bill after some malfunction at the Ecruteak Pokémon Center. They say he came all the way from Kalos after someone abandoned him, can you believe it?"

"Well, wasn't that nice of you," Kris said sarcastically. "If you thought I'd hesitate to attack something adorable, though, you're wrong. Shrew, Dig!"

Shrew went quickly underground and burrowed its way to Sylveon, who sat still in one place all the way until Shrew re-emerged, suddenly dodging with tremendous speed. Lyra had signaled Sylveon again, but Kris had no idea what move allowed Pokémon to dodge moves like that.

"We'll see how long you can last," Kris grumbled. "Poison Sting!"

"Misty Terrain!" Lyra ordered.

Sylveon released a cloud of blue mist from its body, covering the battlefield with it, though the mist was only up to Kris' ankles. As Shrew reached Sylveon and stabbed it with its claw, Sylveon was no worse for wear, and slapped the Sandshrew away with its feelers. Tossed on its back and flailing around helplessly like a Squirtle for a while, Shrew took a moment to get back on its feet, and many in the crowd laughed at the display. Kris wanted to go to Lyra personally and strangle her as she watched her giggle.

"Rock Tomb!" Kris almost screamed at her Sandshrew.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Lyra yelled.

Still smiling innocently, Sylveon fired a concentrated beam of light from its eyes directly at Shrew, dazing the Sandshrew and causing it to miss its attack. Before Kris could come up with anything, Lyra gave Sylveon a signal that made it charge at Shrew, pick it up with its feelers and throw it in the air, where it flailed its short limbs pathetically.

"Moonblast!" Lyra ordered quickly.

As Shrew flew across the air, Sylveon spread its feelers wide and fired a dazzlingly pink orb of energy at the poor Sandshrew, causing a magnificent explosion of pink sparkles that knocked Shrew out.

Kris recalled Shrew and pondered her options. Kris had no idea what Sylveon's type was, what moves it could have in store and what Lyra could do wordlessly. Either way, Sylveon was truly powerful despite its slender appearance, and Kris' options were low. Would Croc see it as a viable opponent, or should she save it for last?

 _Damn it_.

"Chandelure, go!"

But the moment Kris sent out her Chandelure, Lyra withdrew Sylveon and brought Mismagius back. Kris herself hadn't switched her Pokémon around much before – was Sylveon possibly struggling against Chandelure typing wise?

Lyra waved her hands again, and Mismagius prepared for a Power Gem. Before the attack hit, Kris ordered Chandelure to use Shadow Ball. Chandelure's attack absorbed and overpowered the Power Gem and almost hit Mismagius, who managed to get out of the way. Mismagius was faster than Chandelure, but Kris was sure it was frailer as well.

"Will-O-Wisp!" Kris ordered.

The blue wispy flame managed to hit Mismagius and give it a burn, causing it to squeal. Lyra responded with a Shadow Ball, which Kris once again countered with her own. The two attacks collided mid-air and caused an explosion that whipped up a cloud of dust. Both Pokémon were now flying blind, but Kris ordered a Flamethrower attack, and though Chandelure fired blindly, Mismagius didn't know where to dodge either and was hit by the blast of fire point-blank.

Both Kris and Lyra were now down to two Pokémon, but the smile on Lyra's face refused to fade. Kris wanted Lyra to show weakness, be irritated, try to insult Kris, anything but just smile and appear as confident as ever.

"Thanks, Kris!" she praised before sending out her next Pokémon, not even acknowledging the ticking clock on the stadium's giant screen counting down. "You held on to your end of the promise."

Kris scoffed.

"Of course I did," she said. "Scared?"

"No," Lyra grinned. "I'm thrilled. Sylveon, go!"

Lyra sent out the adorable Eeveelution again, and when she gave it the signal, it put up an invisible barrier around it, only visible through the light it reflected. It was either Reflect or Light Screen, most likely the latter, so Kris had to wear it down instead.

"Will-O-Wisp!"

Sylveon wasn't fast enough to avoid the wisp that gave it a burn as well, but Lyra didn't seem too concerned. When Lyra gave it the signal, Sylveon charged a black blob of sizzling energy in its mouth.

_It knows Shadow Ball?!_

"Chandelure, dodge!"

But Chandelure was too slow, the blob of energy hitting it and finally bringing it down, the blue flames on its candles and head flickering and dying down and the yellow glow in its eyes fading away as Kris returned it. The crowd went wild, some even chanting Lyra's name in the distance, but Lyra wasn't phased; she just kept looking at Kris with the ever-present smile on her face.

_She's enjoying it. I could swear she's probably getting off to this, too..._

" _It looks like Lyra has this battle in the bag, folks! That Sylveon is a real juggernaut, bringing down two of Kris' accomplished Pokémon down easily. Kris now has only one Pokémon left! Will it turn the tides of this battle?_ "

Before sending her Feraligatr out, Kris observed Sylveon, but couldn't tell what type it was just by looking. Could Croc even stand up to it? However, the burn mark on Sylveon's body still remained, and the pink Pokémon was panting, the burn weakening it all the time. Croc wouldn't be too happy to fight a weak opponent, but if Kris could just wear it down, Lyra would be forced to use her last Pokémon as well...

Kris brought Croc's Poké Ball close to her mouth, hoping Croc would hear and understand her.

"All right, Croc," Kris muttered so Lyra wouldn't hear. "I know what you're about to see doesn't look scary to you, but he just knocked out Shrew _and_ Chandelure. Give it your all... Croc, go!"

As soon as Feraligatr was out of its ball, it roared and snapped its magnificent jaws, displaying its muscles when it noticed a crow of people was watching it, and the audience cheered in turn. When Croc noticed that Sylveon was its opponent, though, its shoulders slumped and it sighed in disinterest.

"Damn it, Croc, what did I _just_ tell you!" Kris ranted. "Well, if you're not gonna fight it, just avoid its attacks, it'll wear itself out so-"

"Draining Kiss!" Lyra ordered.

"The whatnow?"

Sylveon closed the distance between it and Croc and kissed the Feraligatr on the cheek. The moment its lips touched the Feraligatr, Croc started to glow red as a yellow orb of energy was drained from Croc and into Sylveon's mouth. Realizing what had happened, Croc tried to swipe Sylveon with its claws, but Sylveon leaped out of the way, looking no worse for wear.

However, this attack enraged Croc so much that Kris got an idea.

"Okay, Croc, use Crunch!" she ordered.

But instead, Croc used Ice Fang, lunging at the Sylveon and grabbing it by its feelers. As Croc's teeth glowed blue, it bit the Sylveon, leaving the bite mark covered in ice. Sylveon tried to tackle Croc, but the Feraligatr just smacked it away with its fist.

"Moonblast!" Lyra ordered.

"Waterfall!" Kris countered.

For once, Croc not only listened, but was faster than its opponent. Raising its arms in the air, it summoned up a waterfall that came crashing down on Sylveon, leaving the adorable Pokémon soaked and knocked out. Lyra's smile faltered a bit when she returned the Sylveon, but it soon returned on her face.

"You still haven't disciplined your Pokémon enough," she commented. "I should have known. And here I thought you said you were putting everything you had into this..."

Kris scowled at Lyra, who smiled at her, eyes half-closed, then tossed her last Poké Ball on the arena. Kris fully expected to see Typhlosion, a Pokémon Kris would have type advantage over and whose ass Croc would be more than happy to kick.

But instead, Lyra had sent out a long, blue, serpentine Pokémon with bright black eyes, small wings and a horn sticking out of its head and its tail featuring a rattler just like an Ekans would have. It was a Dragonair, although smaller than the one Clair had with a much less prominent snout.

Kris wasn't sure what to think, only knowing that her chances of victory just shot up exponentially. She crackled her knuckles and shot a smug smirk at Lyra, who returned it just as confidently.

"Okay, Croc, use Ice Fang!" Kris ordered.

But before Croc could even move an inch, Lyra gestured at Dragonair, who seemingly disappeared completely. All Kris could see was something blue and blurry hitting Croc and knocking it on its back before turning visible again at the other side of the battlefield, close to Kris, who slapped her forehead in annoyance.

_It's the Extreme Speed one!_

"Get up, Croc!" Kris encouraged her Feraligatr who was recovering from the daze and sheer surprise Dragonair's attack gave it. "Keep on your guard and when you see it coming, bite down and don't let go!"

Croc assumed a fighting stance, but Lyra had already picked up on the tactic, instead giving Dragonair a different signal. A blue orb of light surrounded Dragonair while its eyes glowed white as it charged at Croc. Feraligatr tried to bite down, but the energy surrounding Dragonair only damaged it further.

"Superpower, now!" Kris yelled quickly.

Before Dragonair could back down after its blue glow subsided, it was Croc's turn to glow blue and hit Dragonair with a reckless, full-body tackle that dazed the dragon-type. The attack had its flaws, as it would put a strain on Croc's body, but Kris wanted to end things before Dragonair got to exploit its Extreme Speed more.

"Nice one!" Kris praised. "Now, grab it and use Ice Fang!"

Croc managed to grab it, which Lyra didn't react to, but as the Feraligatr opened its mouth, Lyra snapped her fingers, prompting Dragonair to coil its body around Croc's mouth, shutting it tight.

"Crapnuggets!" Kris exclaimed. "Uh... shake it off!"

"Dragon Pulse," Lyra countered calmly.

Croc was hit point-blank by a turquoise ball of energy coming out of Dragonair's mouth. The Dragonair let Croc go and fall on the ground. As the referee was about to declare it unable to battle, however, Croc got back up, a pained but determined expression on its face as it exposed all of its teeth at the Dragonair. Even Lyra seemed serious at that moment while Kris regained some of her confidence.

"Nice, now Slash it!" Kris yelled.

Croc rushed at Dragonair, its claws fully extended, but Lyra and Dragonair responded quickly. Dragonair released a thin stream of electricity from its mouth, the stream wrapping around Croc and paralyzing it.

"Hydro Pump!" Kris ordered desperately.

"Dragon Rush!" Lyra yelled.

Just like before, Dragonair became encased in a blue orb of energy and charged directly at Croc, who responded by firing a powerful jet of water with enormous pressure from its mouth. The water merely bounced off Dragonair as it charged, and Dragonair eventually collided with the paralyzed Croc, knocking the wind out of it as it hit it square in the stomach.

Though Dragonair was exhausted as well, Croc had reached its limit, and after some staggering and weak attempts to swipe at Dragonair, the Feraligatr slowly fell, the ground shaking as its massive body collapsed. The referee seemed at loss about what to do before finally announcing Croc as unable to battle.

After some hesitation, the crowd went wild, the stadium filled with cheers and applause, the chanting of Lyra's name getting louder. The announcers started to compete which one could spout off more clichés and the giant screen showcased Lyra's face with the text 'WINNER' beneath it.

Neither trainer paid attention to that at the moment, though. Both Kris and Lyra ran to the battlefield to tend to their Pokémon. Seeing that Dragonair was still ready to fight even further, Lyra gave the Pokémon an enthusiastic hug while Kris knelt next to Croc's face and muttered:

"I'm sorry."

With that, Kris returned the fainted Feraligatr to its ball. Kris was sorry indeed. Winning this battle would have been sure to get Croc's mojo back and get it to obey Kris, but the loss had been a devastating one.

Loss. Yeah. Lyra had gone and done it – she beat her fairly. No tricks, not much trash-talking, no cheating. Lyra had been the better trainer, end of story. So much of Kris' hopes of crushing Lyra under her foot in the tournament.

But as Kris watched Lyra return her Dragonair after some praise and slowly walk over to Kris, she didn't feel angry. All she had wanted to do for the past five years was to compete in the Silver Conference, a dream no doubt shared by plenty of other trainers around Johto, nay, the whole country. Despite everything that came in her way, she had done it.

_Now where do I go from here?_

Lyra smiled at Kris, not smugly or triumphantly, just as pleasantly as always, putting her hand out. Kris bit her lip, but couldn't think of any reason to give a snarky remark – nor did she have time to prepare one. So, instead, Kris smiled back and shook Lyra's hand.

"Good match," Kris said, still a little grudgingly.

"Yeah," Lyra said, sounding like she was out of breath. "Thanks for keeping your promise."

"At least someone is still representing New Bark here," Kris mused. "Well, someone bearable. Speaking of which, if you do end up battling Ethan-"

"He will go down, trust me," Lyra said. "Um... take care."

"Same to you."

_**Friday** _

Kris wasn't going to go crying home, however. As a contestant, she got a free ticket to watch the Silver Conference live and she wasn't going to give that up. Iris, Elm, Blaine and eventually Leaf had all given their hasty condolences and seemed rather surprised that Kris wasn't raging over her loss – Kris had surprised herself, too. She was also rather offended that her so-called friends seemed to do as much as they could to avoid her company, always running around everywhere and randomly remembering things they should be doing.

As Kris observed the semi-finals from her booth and listened to the announcers' drivel, she had to prepare for surprises. Apparently Ethan had defeated Silver the day before, though Silver still finished with a slightly higher score than Kris. Though he dropped out, Silver could still seen sneaking around, which unsettled Kris and which Blaine promised to look into. The mysterious 'Nameless' had defeated Pebbleman and would be facing Lyra while Ethan would be battling Arcade Star Dahlia after that.

The battle started eventually, Kris finding herself surrounded by empty seats on all sides when none of her friends had joined her in the booth. Whoever 'Nameless' was, she was as good as they said, defeating Lyra's Ampharos with her Rapidash within the first three minutes and easily dispatching of her Heracross as well. When Lyra sent out her Dragonair to battle the Rapidash, Iris finally appeared in the booth. Glancing around furtively with shifty eyes like she was telling national secrets, Iris whispered something to Kris:

"I know you want to see this, but this is more important. Can you come with me, please?"

"On a scale of one to ten, how important?" Kris grumbled as she missed what appeared to be a particularly devastating attack as the crowd cheered loudly.

"Twelve," Iris said.

Kris frowned at her. "No, seriously."

"Well, ten, then, whatever," Iris hissed. "Just come on!"

Kris wasn't used to seeing Iris this worked up about something, so she reluctantly followed her out of the booth. Lyra was still struggling against Nameless' Rapidash.

**~o~O~o~**

Silver was sneaking around the shadowy corridors of the stadium's basement. He had overheard that paranoid gym leader and the pencil-neck professor talking about an old man being trampled by over-enthusiastic sports fans the day before and being taken into the infirmary. But while looking for the spot, Silver lost his way.

As he slowly walked across the decrepit stone corridor, Silver squinted at the ceiling as he heard loud cheering from the stadium. He was above seeking pleasure in pretty colors and flashy explosions. Even losing to that New Barkian idiot had barely affected him. His final place on the scoreboard was 7th, which was more than enough for him. He now knew he was strong enough to take on the man he had yearned to destroy for years.

What had annoyed Silver the most, though, was watching that nameless girl with the mask at the preparation room. Seeing her brought awful memories to mind – like being forced to wear that gray mask over his face for three years.

Silver stopped, put his hand on Sneasel's Poké Ball and flattened himself against the wall when he noticed one of the doors along the corridor was open. It was a normal utility room, a man in a janitor uniform whistling and humming a tune as he looked at himself in the mirror and changed his clothes. Silver assumed it was just a worker whose shift was over, but still didn't want to be seen – he wasn't prepared for any awkward questions about his reasons for sneaking around there and would likely run out of options and punch the man in the face.

And that would get his gloves dirty. He didn't like that.

However, as the janitor unzipped his work outfit, Silver saw him wearing a black uniform underneath. Worse yet, he covered one vertical half of his face with a white mask.

The Rocket Grunt barely had time to react when Silver sent out his Sneasel and ordered it to use Beat Up. Its long-clawed arms moving at blinding speed, Sneasel pummeled the grunt unconscious.

But Silver only had a split-second to dodge as an Ice Beam was fired his way. Looking at the culprit, Silver's blood boiled and heart rate shot up. It was the Mask of Ice in all his glory, his long white hair flowing in the sudden gust of wind that ensued while his black cape floated around calmly as if it was made of smoke. The light blue, constantly grinning mask still covered his face even when the entire region knew his true identity.

Silver wasted no time. "Sneasel, attack him! Use Slash!"

But all he heard from behind him was hissing and struggling. Silver looked, only to see a gigantic, hulking beast of a man with jet black hair smirk at Silver and hold Sneasel by its head with one massive hand. Instead of the one he had worn many years ago, he wore a similar white mask as the grunt Silver had knocked out, but Silver still recognized him all too well.

"Two," he muttered.

"Ah-ah, my lord has given me a name now," the enormous man said. "It's Orm. Now, remember that time when I talked about how the owner of that house I broke into sicked his Growlithe at me – and how I grabbed it by the head and popped the little bastard's skull wide open. I'd hate to do it for a Pokémon we can actually use."

" _Thank you, Orm_ ," the Masked Man said jovially. " _Yes, you just stay calm, number three. You know, you may have been my youngest disciple, but you showed such extraordinary_ _skill. Why is it, then, that you just_ had _to keep disturbing the well-laid out plans of my Team Rocket again and again, dear boy?_ "

"I'd rather shave my nose hair with a buzzsaw than join Team Rocket," Silver said, "and you should know it by now... Pryce."

" _Oh, what, is that supposed to upset me? Please. When I put on this mask, Pryce is as good as dead – more so than he already i_ _s – and I become the Mask of Ice._ _And_ _just look at the bright future my children entered into! Number two is now Orm and he is more than happy to serve me, as are, of course, number one and even number seven. Carr, come out, don't be shy!_ "

A short, weaselly, blonde-haired man who wore his Team Rocket cap sideways and had a white mask just like Orm came into view from behind the Masked Man, glaring up at Silver.

" _See, he has name now,_ " the Masked Man said smoothly as he slowly approached Silver. " _You could have one too one of these days, you know_."

"My name is Silver!"

" _Oh, please, you_ know _that's just something they made up to hide your true identity. You know_ nothing _about your real name or your real past, number_ _three_ _– but I could help you with that. You just have to tell me one little thing: where is my GS Ball?_ "

"I don't know," Silver muttered and prepared himself to fight without Pokémon if he had to. "You should ask the local lost and found."

" _I know you're not smart enough to lie,_ _three,_ _and I know for a fact that you hired a former member of Team Rocket to steal it for you. Ah, but_ _of course you're working_ with _someone. Where is dear number eight, anyway?_ "

Silver's eye twitched. "If you do something to her-"

The Masked Man just laughed. " _What, are you going to fight us all? And what 'something'? I already_ know _what I'm going to do. I'm going to find her, kill her in the worst way I can imagine and bring her body over to you – maybe that might make you more inclined to tell me the truth."_

Silver raised his fist and charged at the Masked Man, but the Mask didn't have to do anything as Orm punched him in the stomach and stopped his advance, then tossed him into the utility room where the now-unconscious grunt had been. Orm threw Silver's Sneasel at him and slammed the door shut, the Masked Man finally sealing the door by firing an Ice Beam at the lock.

" _That's Nevermeltice-reinforced_ _ice, dear three_ ," the Mask mocked through the door as he heard Silver attempting to ram his shoulder against it in the room. " _You just sit tight until I bring your friend over. Who knows, she might even be in one piece._ "

The Masked Man then noticed a tall man with spiky red hair wearing a black cape calmly waltz towards him, hands in his pockets.

" _Ah, Petrel,_ _I trust that, for once throughout the history of your career, everything went well_?" the Masked Man asked.

The red-haired man suddenly turned into a shorter, skinnier man with a long face and purple hair, wearing a similar mask as Orm and Carr.

"It's done, sir," Petrel said and bowed slightly, wisely keeping his distance from the Masked Man. "And, if I may say, I hope I get to wear that outfit in future operations. People practically groveled at my feet!"

" _Like you're doing now_?" the Masked Man asked quietly, prompting Petrel to stand at attention. " _Oh, lighten up,_ " the Mask laughed. " _We're at the sports event of the decade here, it's time we gave these people some entertainment_..."

**~o~O~o~**

At the judges' table, Lance, Sird and Alder were quietly observing the ongoing battle between Lyra and Nameless. Lance had to suppress the urge to yawn as he watched the battle, leaning against his hands with his elbows on the table. Nameless was one of the few people who had showed him actually impressive skills, but against a rookie like Lyra, her talents were wasted. Lyra had finally managed to knock out her Rapidash, but Nameless countered with a Bellossom that took care of Lyra's Dragonair, leaving Lyra with just two Pokémon. She was using her Typhlosion now and even _it_ seemed to be struggling despite the type advantage.

Lance was brought out of his boredom when a security guard suddenly busted into the room. Sird and Alder briefly glanced at her before resuming to watch the battle, but Lance stared at the guard, who seemed terrified to see him.

"Yes?" Lance told the security guard. "If you don't need anything, then kindly stop interrupting me."

The guard shook her head and walked over to Lance, whispering her business in his ear:

"Sorry, sir, but there seems to be trouble in the security room. Someone just authorized a marching band to enter the stadium in your name. Well, actually, the guards claimed _you_ were the one doing that, sir."

"When was that?" Lance muttered.

"Uh... about two minutes ago. Sir, are you-"

Lance raised his hand to silence the guard.

"Lead the way," he said, stood up and leaned between Sird and Alder. "Excuse me, there's something that needs my attention."

**~o~O~o~**

Kris and Iris arrived to the place professor Elm and Blaine were waiting at, arriving to overhear another argument.

"I really should have been the one to check up that band," Blaine grumbled stubbornly.

"Um, like they told you," Elm said delicately, "you don't need to traumatize these guys. They're a pretty expensive group they brought here all the way from Holon. I'm sure that with your instructions, the local security is more than capable-"

"Traumatize?!" Blaine yelled. "Who said that?"

"Um, I don't remember the guard's name, but they said Lance himself... oh, Iris, Kris, hello!"

Kris frowned, looking between both Elm and Blaine curiously.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked.

"I can answer that," said a gravelly voice behind Kris.

Kris was pleasantly surprised to see none other than Kurt from Azalea Town make his way briskly towards her, waving cheerfully.

"Kurt!" Kris exclaimed as she shook hands with the man. "I didn't – wow, I mean, how have you been?"

"Sorry, I fear that time is running low," Kurt said quickly. "I have to ask you something about the GS Ball."

 _Oh, crap_.

"Oh, crap," Kris muttered awkwardly. "Uh, see, I knew it was important, but there was this whole supervillain psychopath thing and it was stolen-"

"We already told him that," Blaine said impatiently. "You didn't get a chance to open it? Moreover, you spent more time with Pryce than any of us, at least recently, so did he ever tell you anything about it?"

Kris shook her head, frowning even more.

"What's this about?" she wondered.

"Um, Kris," Iris said calmly, hand on Kris' shoulder, "don't get all wound up like you usually do, but-"

" _Wound up?! What?_ "

"Shut up, Kris," Blaine grunted. "The guy who stole it is here."

Kris raised her eyebrows, looking in the direction Blaine was pointing at. Wes hobbled over to the group, wiping his face with handkerchief, his eyes bloodshot.

"Sheesh, the humidity in this place is insane!" he complained. "How do you people – oh, hi, Krissy!"

"Let me tell Croc to eat him," Kris pleaded Iris. "Seriously, he won't be missed."

Wes gasped in fake shock, putting his hand on his chest.

"Rude," he said and smirked at Kris. "Here I was about to tell you who ordered me to steal it, but if you're not interested-"

"Just say it or I'll throw you on the ground again," Blaine warned.

"Um, right," Wes said awkwardly. "Well, they were really secretive about it, but as far as I remember, it was this guy with long red hair, silverish gray eyes, a black jacket-"

"Son of a-" Kris grumbled and walked over to Wes, grabbing him by his jacket and bringing his head closer to her. Wes didn't do anything to protest, just smiled at Kris.

"Nice weather down here," Wes commented.

"Shut up!" Kris snapped. "What did he tell you about it? What is he up to? Have you seen him around here?"

"Ugh, so many questions," Wes lamented. "Can't we start off more slowly – _okay, okay_ ," he amended when Kris was about to punch him. "My nose is already running like mad, I don't need you to break it. The guy didn't talk much, but about half of what he said was about how Team Rocket are 'weaklings' and how he wanted to bring him down."

"Sounds like him," Kris commented and carefully let go of Wes. "So he wanted to make sure they wouldn't get it? Or does he have some agenda of his own?"

Wes shrugged. "Not my problem."

"But it will be soon," Kurt said somberly. "I came here for that exact reason: there's been some extremely strange fluctuations and energy surges at the Ilex Forest. I think the GS Ball is supposed to brought there."

"Based on what?" Kris wondered.

"I..." Kurt sighed. "Visited my son in prison. He told me to put the GS Ball to the forest protector's shrine in the forest, but didn't say why. But I've looked over the notes I made during my time studying the ball, and the energy readouts are very similar."

"Something to do with Mewtwo, possibly," Blaine pondered. "Leaf told me – where is she anyway? Well, she told me that she's been detecting spikes in psychic energy today and late yesterday, along with some other types of power she couldn't recognize and that was interfering with the readings. But why Ilex Forest in particular..."

"YOU!"

Everyone turned to the direction of the sudden new voice. Kris was startled to see Eusine stumble towards them through the crowds, but recognized him just barely. His ordinarily well-groomed hair was messy and his cape and purple suit were partially torn from several places. More to the point, he was pale and had huge shadows under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in days. Eusine stumbled over to Kris before collapsing on his knees right in front of her, panting and trying to speak.

Blaine, Elm, Wes and Kurt just stared while Iris looked at Eusine's eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked him, snapping her fingers in front of him. "What happened to you?"

"Sui..." Eusine panted, grabbing Kris by the hand. "Suicune... it's... I know it's here..."

Weirded out by his behavior, Kris was nonetheless a little concerned. Normally Eusine would be much more smug, not to mention that he would never let his suit go in that condition unless it was serious.

"What about Suicune?" Kris asked him curiously.

"I followed it here," Eusine groaned and held his head as Kris and Iris helped him stand up. "Followed all the way from Blackthorn... my car broke down... gonna pass out..."

"Wait, you did it on _foot_?!" Kris yelled in shock, to which Eusine just nodded slightly. "Why the hell would you do something like that?"

Eusine sighed and tried to adjust his hair, but just raising his arms seemed to wear him out. Wes walked over to Eusine, looking him over in concern, while the others just listened, Blaine crossing his arms in thought.

"It's not easy for me to say this," Eusine said, and he indeed sounded like every syllable was causing him pain and/or nausea, "but I need your-"

"You need my help?" Kris asked.

"Thank goodness you said it," Eusine sighed.

Clearing his throat, Eusine adjusted his suit and tried to assume his usual flamboyant tone, but still sounded out of breath.

"You're always around when Suicune is concerned, that much is true," Eusine said. "I thought that by fighting you and utterly _destroying_ you in battle in my usual stylish way would earn its respect, but nothing came out of it until it finally appeared to me on Route 45. But then all it seemed to do was lead me to you. Kris!"

Eusine suddenly grabbed both of Kris' hands and stared at her intensely in the eyes, prompting a confused look from Kris.

"Will you h... help me achieve my goal?" Eusine pleaded. "Will you join me so we can track it down and solve the mystery behind it for good?"

"Um..."

Eusine thankfully let go of Kris, as his intense stare had made her nervous. But now that the Silver Conference was almost over, as was Lyra's battle with Nameless, most likely, one way or another. She had nothing else to do and getting to actually solve the Suicune mystery was the next thing on Kris' bucket list, even though all the preparation for the tournament had made her forget.

"Okay, I will," Kris said firmly. "But I don't want any of your obnoxious junk!"

"But of course," Eusine exclaimed.

And with that, Eusine put his hand under his cape and suddenly pulled out a bouquet of (fake) flowers which he gave to Kris.

"As an advance thanks, dear Kris," Eusine said pompously before turning his gaze at Iris. "And what would you like?"

"Do you have any dragons in there?" Iris asked curiously.

"Yeah, whatever, you can have these," Kris said and offhandedly shoved the flowers at Iris. She then turned to look at Blaine, who was still pondering. "What do you make of this?"

"I think that idiot is right," Blaine said.

"Why, thank you!" Eusine said. "Would you want something as well? How about one of my other famous magic tricks?"

"It could be Suicune's energy that Leaf had spotted," Blaine continued, ignoring Eusine. "And if it is here, that might confirm Mewtwo's presence. It protected us from Mewtwo before, but to what end... or does Suicune want to kill Mewtwo?"

"How could you suggest such a thing?!" Eusine gasped. "No magic for you, mister!"

"I have to find Leaf and ask about this," Blaine muttered. "Okay, Elm, Kurt, you two try to find that Silver guy – Elm knows what he looks like, and he couldn't have left the stadium without me noticing. Iris, you take care of our Orrean friend – whatever the reason the authorities are after him, he probably deserves it, but we need him for now."

"Gee, thanks," Wes grumbled.

"Oh, don't complain," Iris said cheerfully as she grabbed Wes by the arm and led him away. "Tell me more about Orre! Is it true that..."

"Kris," Blaine continued, "you and uh... Eugene, or whatever your name is, you do whatever you want, but for Buddha's sake, be _careful_! If the Masked Man kills you, it's one less problem out of my hair."

"What hair?" Kris countered, but Blaine didn't laugh. "I mean, sure, we can talk about Suicune while I go and see how Lyra is doing."

"Suicune?!" Eusine exclaimed. "You guessed my favorite topic!"

**~o~O~o~**

As Lance's Druddigon burned and clawed off the uniforms of the 'band from Holon', it soon turned out they were disguised Rocket Grunts, about a dozen of them plus the enforcer Proton. Lance had ambushed them at the locker rooms, and though the Rockets had spammed their various low-level Pokémon at them, Lance's Druddigon took care of many of them on its own while Lance himself handily took out any Rocket Grunts that tried to charge at him – or escape.

After it was clear that they couldn't win, most of the Rockets except for Proton tried to flee instead, but Lance summoned his Dragonite whose Hyper Beam attack destroyed parts of the walls and ceiling, burying most of them under rubble.

"You cowards!" Proton, wearing a white mask like the rest of Pryce's henchmen, yelled at the fleeing Rockets. "The Masked Man will gut you for this! Mark my words! You could have been his chosen people but you chose to abandon him, you... you... oh, cripes..."

Proton was reduced to stuttering and trembling before the much taller Lance, who only had to stand imposingly in front of him to put him on his knees. On the background, Proton's Weezing tried to fight Dragonite, but was taken out in a matter of seconds.

"What is your plan?" Lance interrogated Proton. "What's Pryce up to?"

"I..." Proton gulped, almost on the verge of tears. "The M-masked Man would never fuh-forgive me... y-you can't fathom his greatness! He and Giovanni are the apex of humanity, and they won't-"

Lance knocked Proton out with a single chop to the neck, then took a moment to look around the room. Dragonite and Druddigon had completely trashed it, but Lance had made sure that his Pokémon would only hurt the opposing Pokémon until they backed off and fled, so there were only a couple of unconscious Pokémon about. In contrast, everyone bar one or two grunts who had been in the room were laying around either unconscious or just too injured or exhausted to get up, some possibly having been killed under the rubble. Lance, however, was unaffected.

The security guard who had shown Lance the way to the band suddenly appeared to the doorway, whistling appreciatively as she saw the carnage.

"Wow, you definitely are like they say, Lance," she said. "Did you find out what they're up to?"

"No," Lance said flatly. "But I'm about to. Dragonite!"

Dragonite didn't need any further instruction as it roughly grabbed the security guard and tossed her on the floor. Upon impact, there was a slight puff of smoke as the disguise vanished, revealing that Rocket Executive Petrel was underneath. Lance grabbed his arms and pinned him against the floor.

"Okay, okay, uncle, you win!" Petrel cried. "But my assertion still stands – how'd you know it was me?"

"None of the employees here have called me by my name so far," Lance pointed out. "You must be the one who impersonated me."

"Whatever are you talking _AHHHH_!"

Lance twisted Petrel's arm in an unnatural position, prompting him to cry out again and slam the floor with his hand as if it was a wrestling match.

"Yeah, it was me, it was me!" Petrel yelled. "But you can't kill me! I'm a nice guy!"

"How'd you people get out of prison?" Lance quizzed.

"We blamed the Radio Tower thing on Archer," Petrel groaned. "Plea bargains are a wonderful thing, plus it helped that Pryce had greased some palms before. We gathered the remaining grunts who were the most loyal to Pryce and came here to... to..."

Lance twisted Petrel's arm again, prompting another pained scream.

"Stop! You'll break it!" Petrel screamed. "But I can't tell you! The things Pryce would do to me if he found out..."

"I thought you were a nice guy," Lance said stoically.

"But I didn't say I was a _great_ guy!" Petrel groaned. "The boss wants the GS Ball, that's all I can tell you! Please!"

"Is he here at the stadium?" Lance asked.

Petrel looked at Lance, tears almost welling up in his eyes from the pain. He was biting his lip so hard that blood was running down his chin, but Lance only glared at him determinedly, so he nodded.

**~o~O~o~**

Kris made it back to the arena just in time to see Lyra leaving it with a dejected look on her face. Her expression and the drivel of the announcers made it clear that 'Nameless' had won, but not in the way Lyra had beat Kris. Nameless had utterly destroyed Lyra, only losing two Pokémon of her own while effortlessly trouncing Lyra's Typhlosion and Sylveon, the strongest Pokémon in her arsenal, all the while making showy moves and trash-talking her.

As Kris' gaze met Lyra's, the latter tried to give a weird combination of a shrug and a smile at Kris, but her attempt was half-hearted. Kris tried to think of something to say herself, but the urge to mock Lyra was overwhelming, and Kris feared that if she opened her mouth, she'd just point and laugh or something.

"Feel free to make fun of me, by the way," Lyra said, to Kris' amazement. "Whoever she was, that 'Nameless' was better than me, end of story."

"Um..."

Kris still wasn't sure how to phrase things. For the past weeks, her hate for Lyra had been at the top of her mind 24/7 and still remained to some capacity. But seeing her there, accepting defeat and doing so in a surprisingly humble way made Kris doubt herself.

"Still, had I used both Dragonair _and_ Sylveon in my team, I would have won," Lyra said hastily. "And I hear there's a method I can use to evolve my Ampharos and Heracross further. Once that happens, I _will_ be a Champion! She was better, but not _that_ much."

 _So much for 'humble'_.

Surprisingly, the mysterious 'Nameless' didn't head into the locker room through her designated path, but instead was seen talking with the referee. Once that was done, she skipped over to Kris and Lyra for some reason, making Lyra tense up.

"You," Lyra grumbled. "What do you-"

"Oh, like you still haven't figured it out," Nameless said cheerfully and turned to look at Kris. "Hi, Kris, how's it going?"

Kris narrowed her eyes. "You sound like-"

"Anyhoo, I hope you learned your lesson, Lyra," Nameless taunted and ruffled Lyra's hair condescendingly. "Now that I'm done here, I can finally get rid of this stupid mask."

Both Kris and Lyra gasped as she did so. Though it was still hard to recognize her due to makeup, Kris still noted the shape of her big, blue eyes – it was Leaf, though Kris had never seen her wear makeup, much less boots with those kinds of heels.

Lyra just stared at her with her wide open in shock and anger.

"How could-" Lyra flustered. "I mean, you're just a – what the ass?!"

"Try to look at least a little less surprised," Leaf remarked in amusement as she looked between Kris and Lyra. "I did train under Red and Blue _and_ I have eight gym badges from Kanto. People always forget that around me."

Lyra's shoulders slumped. "But why?" she asked dejectedly.

"I've heard Kris talk about you a lot, Lyra-" Leaf started.

"Leave me out of this!" Kris snapped.

"-and most of it was not good," Leaf continued relentlessly. "When I met you myself in New Bark Town, I realized most of what she had said was exaggeration, but there was some truth to it. I wanted to drive the point home: no matter how good you think you are, there's always someone better than you, so don't forget that while you train. And don't let battling come between the people you care about, either."

Kris and Lyra looked in the opposite directions awkwardly, Lyra still looking pissed at Leaf, who just smiled.

"Well, I think we should go visit our friends," she said. "I told the referee I would be dropping out of this tournament."

Now it was Kris' time to be mad. " _What_?!" she yelled. "You made it to the finals! If Ethan beats Dahlia, you have to be there to kick his smug ass! And this a chance you might not get again!"

Leaf just shrugged carelessly and tossed her mask into the nearest trash can. "I've got nothing to prove anymore," she said. "The judges are going to make some rearrangements once Lance comes back from wherever he went, but it looks like the battle between Ethan and Dahlia is going to be the final match."

"...and whoever wins gets to challenge Lance," Kris muttered. "If they _beat_ him, they'll become the Indigo Champion!"

"That's doubtful," Leaf laughed. "Dahlia might be up for it, though. She works at the Battle Frontier, after all. But that's not what we should be concerned about right now – we have bigger things to worry about. Follow me."

Still angry and confused, Kris and Lyra had no choice but to follow Leaf to the basement. Walking down a decrepit stone corridor, they eventually came across a door to a utility room, with Iris, Blaine, Elm, Wes, Eusine and Kurt hanging around it. Iris waved cheerfully at the three when they approached.

"Is that the one?" Leaf asked Blaine.

"Yeah, he's in here," Blaine grunted, "but how in the world did you find out about it?"

"I heard rumors from the crowds that they had seen a Team Rocket Grunt with half of his face covered by a white mask sneaking around," Leaf reasoned. "He always hangs around places like these and wouldn't miss a chance to knock heads with a Rocket, but he tends to rush into things sometimes, too."

"Who are you talking about?" Kris wondered.

"You'll see," Blaine smirked and opened a Poké Ball, letting Magmar out of it. "Magmar, Fire Punch!"

Everyone had to take cover when Blaine ordered the attack, the Magmar recklessly pulling back its fiery fist and punching the door with it, easily melting the ice that the lock and hinges were encased in and forcing the door open.

Silver emerged from the utility room, looking dazed to see so many people hanging around, particularly when most of them were his enemies, but seemed mostly unharmed, just embarrassed and sweaty. He gazed at everyone in the corridor one by one until he locked at Leaf, his eyes widening as he noticed her. Leaf just winked at him.

"Long time no see," Leaf told him.

"L-leaf," Silver stuttered quietly. "Um... what are you wearing?"

"When you have to disguise yourself, you might as well do it with style," Leaf giggled. "I don't enjoy too much flashiness, but how often do you get to show off at the Silver Conference?"

"You," Silver mumbled, "were you that girl with the mask?"

Leaf nodded with a smile and hugged Silver, which confused Kris, but seemed to confuse Silver even more, as he didn't respond to the gesture, just stood still and looked very bothered.

"Guys, I'm sure you know him by now, but this is Silver, one of my best and oldest friends," Leaf remarked as she let go of the confused boy. "Now, to show you the reason I'm here..."

Leaf pulled a familiar object from her bag: a Poké Ball with a golden top half and a silver bottom half, which made Kurt gasp.

"You have it?!" he said hoarsely. "But why didn't you-?"

"I had to wait for the right moment," Leaf explained. "Pryce is here in the stadium. I don't know how, but he fooled us all, and if he finds out that I'm Nameless, I'm kind of screwed. I was the one who asked Silver to hire Missile to steal this. Sorry for the ruse, Kris," she added.

"Uh, it's okay," Kris muttered as she scratched her head, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. "But you could have, you know, _told_ me what was going on."

"No offense, Kris, but we really couldn't have," Leaf said. "As long as Pryce thinks you're just someone who got tangled into this mess, you're much safer, and there was no guarantee you wouldn't have blown our cover. But thanks for not being too mad."

"She's right, you really can't keep secrets," Lyra pointed out.

"Well _you're_ such a crappy liar that you would have just told him when he first showed up," Kris argued.

Kris was mad, though. Confusion was the primary feeling of the many she felt at the moment, but anger was still one of them. How long had Leaf been fooling her? And why was she friends with someone like Silver? Granted, he was like a cuddly Lillipup compared to most people she had come across, but still.

"Now, Kurt, you probably want this to be delivered to the Ilex Forest soon, but I'd feel safer if someone went with you," Leaf said as she handed the GS Ball carefully to Kurt. "Silver promised me he would help-"

"I promised a lot of things," Silver grumbled.

"-but I think one more person should go," Leaf finished, ignoring Silver.

"Ooh, me!" Lyra said with her hand in the air, almost jumping up and down. "Pick me, Leaf, please, I want to help! I've been out of the loop this whole time!"

Leaf nodded. "You may not be as good as you like to think, but you're still one of the more talented trainers I've come across, so sure."

"Yay – wait, what?"

"Eusine," Leaf said, and the purple-suited man in question was actually quiet for once. "Looks like you were right – Suicune is around Mt. Silver somewhere, but I think you've scared it off one time too many."

"That only happened, like, three times!" Eusine argued.

"With my detectors, we should be able to find either it or Mewtwo, and the other one can't be far away when that happens," Leaf said. "Iris, Blaine, Elm, you probably want to come with me."

Blaine didn't even mind not being in charge of things anymore. "Uh, sure thing!"

"Oh, great, do you think I'm too dumb and weak to help out?" Kris complained. "I want in on this, too!"

"You will," Leaf said seriously. "Ethan and Dahlia are about to battle soon, and I think Pryce will make his move during that match. You, Eusine and Wes should keep on your guard. I don't know how much Pryce thinks he can do with so much security around, not to mention Lance and Alder, but you have to help them stop him from hurting anyone – there's a big crowd here and there's no time to evacuate, not that they'd listen to us, anyway."

Everyone stared at Leaf, whose confidence was spilling over to the others as well, but Kris was still confused. Not only did she not feel right having Lyra and Silver of all people carrying the GS Ball around, but she was still bitter about Leaf's charade. Still, the others seemed to disagree, and eventually resigned to their duties. Lyra, Silver and Kurt headed off the stadium and towards Azalea Town, deciding to use Lyra's Braviary for the transportation. Iris, Leaf, Blaine and Elm went to rummage Blaine's van for supplies while Kris followed Wes and Eusine back to the booth to watch the battle.

**~o~O~o~**

" _Well, never in my eight-year career as a tournament DJ have I seen the likes of this! The mysterious 'Nameless', after scoring a decisive victory against Lyra from New Bark Town, has dropped out of the tournament, forcing our judges and referees to carefully go over the rule book, and we have the results right here!"_

" _That's right, Mary! With Lance absent, mademoiselle Sird and monsieur Alder have decided that today's last battle between Ethan from New Bark Town and Arcade Star Dahlia from Sunyshore City will be the last battle of the tournament. The schedule will still be maintained, and whoever wins will challenge champion Lance on Sunday! So prepare yourself for the match of the decade, people!_ "

Kris sat in the audience, high up in the booth that was empty except for her, Eusine to her left munching on popcorn and Wes to her right using a pocket mirror to adjust his hair.

"So, is he the right douche I've heard so much about?" Wes asked and looked over his mirror when Ethan's smirking face appeared on the jumbotron.

"Compared to him, you're a downright decent fellow," Kris grumbled, unhappy about the seating arrangements.

"That about right," Wes remarked casually as the screen now showed Dahlia. "She's great, though. Professional trainers all over Johto and Sinnoh seem to think of her as practically a goddess – and I can see why," he added with a whistle.

"I think this tournament has enough obnoxious commentary as it is," Kris said.

"I should have entered this thing, you know," Eusine observed. "Most people here are such ruffians, no style at all, I tell you – Dahlia is an exception, though. Love those shoes!"

"I'm sure she's good, but if she's so amazing, why is she battling rookies in this conference?" Kris wondered.

"Even the best have to improve themselves once in a while," Eusine sighed. "I've learned that the hard way."

"Well, you have been hanging out with Morty and Lance," Kris jabbed.

Wes chuckled. "Look at you two, arguing like an old Double Battle tag team."

"Shut up!" both Kris and Eusine snapped at him.

The contestants prepared themselves and the referee came over to raise his flag.

" _The battle is about to start. This is it, folks. The finals of the Silver Conference. The question on everyone's lips is: what filler will they come up with for Saturday? But the other question is: who will win home the medal awarded for winning the tournament?_ _Ready... set... battle_!"

Just as the referee lowered his flag, the wall behind him exploded, knocking him to the ground. Ethan and Dahlia both jerked their heads to the side, and as the dust cleared, the Masked Man spread his arms, Carr, Orm and three mask-wearing Rocket Grunts at his side.

" _Pardon the interruption, good people of Johto!_ " the Masked Man boasted, his voice reaching even the booth Kris, Wes and Eusine were in, prompting them to make a dash to the stairs. " _I just wanted to make sure to have as many eyes on me as possible. I am the Mask of Ice, leader of Neo Team Rocket and future ruler of this region. Today will be the day when you shall witness your pathetic Champions falling, and oh_ my _do I love the sound of my voice._ "

Ethan fled the arena immediately and hid behind some rubble while Dahlia sent out her Medicham, but Orm and Carr quickly sent out their Jumpluff and Forretress, respectively, causing them to duel while the Masked Man blasted Dahlia with an Ice Beam, forcing her to back away. The Rocket Grunts rushed her, but she was able to block off all their blows with her bare hands and engage in hand-to-hand combat with them. Ignoring the fight going on, the Masked Man walked past it and set his gaze on the judges' table.

" _I don't see the lovely Lance anywhere_ ," he said. " _But you'll do for me for now, Unova Champion Alder. Give me your best shot._ "

Alder had already left the judges' table and was calmly approaching the Masked Man, grabbing a Poké Ball from his necklace. Tossing it into the air, a Volcarona emerged from it, flapping its large, orange wings, releasing small embers and ash that rained on the Masked Man. But the Masked Man was fast to send out two Poké Balls of his own, sending out his Abomasnow and Mamoswine.

"Fiery Dance!" Alder ordered.

Volcarona flew up high and started dancing around in the air, enveloped in flames and sending fireballs crashing down all over the stadium, but Abomasnow and Mamoswine blocked the attacks despite the type disadvantage. With a well-placed Ancientpower attack, Mamoswine managed to bring Volcarona closer to ground, but didn't knock it out either.

Meanwhile, Kris, Wes and Eusine rushed into the arena, the stadium being in a flux, people screaming and pushing each other around to flee, people being trampled around. The security guards were overwhelmed by attempting to calm people down and were mowed down by panicked people easily.

With his Pokémon keeping Alder and his Volcarona busy, the Masked Man raised his arms and made another declaration:

" _All of you, stay in your places_!" he yelled, his voice echoing throughout the stadium. " _T_ _his stadium has been rigged with explosives – your panicking can and_ will _set them off. Why not enjoy the show as your new ruler demonstrates his power – or will one of you lower beings actually oppose me_?"

"Yes!" yelled Kris, who had finally caught up to the Masked Man. "This was your last stunt, _Pryce_! Flamethrower!"

Kris had already brought out her Chandelure, who blasted the Masked Man with a stream of fire, but the Mask lifted his cloak and summoned up another cold breeze that lifted him into the air, evading the attack and letting him land a dozen yards away.

Meanwhile, a Rocket Grunt tried to grab Dahlia in a stranglehold, but she effortlessly grabbed his arm and tossed him over her shoulder. Wiping some blood off her face, she turned to yell at Kris.

"You three, get out of here!" Dahlia yelled. "Let the professionals handle Pryce, kids!"

But the distraction cost Dahlia dearly as a punch from Orm knocked her to the ground, causing her to land unconscious next to the Rocket Grunts she took out. Meanwhile, Orm's Jumpluff used Stun Spore to incapacitate Dahlia's Medicham, Orm's Forretress finishing it off with Gyro Ball. This allowed the Masked Man to open two more Poké Balls, sending out his Piloswine and Dewgong, who didn't seem to need water to fight. Carr, Orm and their Pokémon quickly joined him.

" _Ah, the troublesome girl and the terrible two are here_ ," the Masked Man said calmly, his Abomasnow and Mamoswine fighting Volcarona with no need for guidance, while Alder was stuck trying to keep his Pokémon safe. " _Though it's a good thing you came by – I have reassessed our relationship, you see, and I have concluded that you might just be useful to me after all. Are you three going to try to fight me_?"

"Heat Wave!" Alder yelled out.

" _Well that's inconvenient..._ "

Again surrounded by a glowing red orb, Volcarona released a powerful stream of heat from its body in every direction, knocking Abomasnow and Mamoswine out. Finally free to act, Alder's next act was to sent out his Bouffalant, which rammed against Orm, Carr and their Pokémon, sending them all flying. As they hit the ground, all they could do was struggle and flail their limbs weakly. The Masked Man had to jump out of the way, allowing Eusine to send out his Electrode – Kris noticed Wes had disappeared somewhere.

"Electrode, Thunderbolt!" Eusine exclaimed dramatically, hand in the air and cape flowing aroud.

"Chandelure, Flamethrower!" Kris ordered.

The combined attacks did a number on Dewgong and Piloswine, respectively, an explosion ensuing as the attacks crossed in the air, knocking Pryce's Pokémon out and sending a cloud of dust and ash everywhere. Eusine used his cape to shield both himself and Kris from the dust cloud. From the corner of her eye, Kris could see the Masked Man having jumped to cover to avoid the explosion and was now the only one of his group still standing unharmed, facing the combined might of Kris, Eusine and Alder. He still didn't seem too nervous, though, instead opting to clap sarcastically.

" _Well done_ ," he said calmly. " _Perhaps now would be a good time to show what this mask can_ really _do. Haven't I told you people enough times already? I don't necessarily want to destroy you people – I want you to suffer as much as you humanly can before you hand this region over to me. But first – you_!"

The Masked Man's bony hand pointed directly at Kris. Eusine immediately stepped in front of Kris in attempt to be valiant – or most likely he didn't want his only connection to Suicune die just yet.

" _I know you worked together with one of my dear children, number three, or Silver, as he calls himself. I know he's connected to number eight, Ms. Leaf Greene, whom you also know. Where is she_?"

"You, girl!" Alder shouted at Kris suddenly.

 _He noticed me_!

"Kris was your name, wasn't it?" he asked.

 _And he knows my name_!

"Uh, yes?" Kris asked, snapped out of her funk.

"I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but whatever you do, don't tell him anything!" Alder yelled. "We're going to show him that we're not afraid of him. Pryce! You've lost your Pokémon and your henchmen. If you surrender now, we can stop this pointless violence."

" _You hurt my feelings, Alder_ ," the Masked Man said. " _Violence is never pointless. We humans know that better than anyone – it's a means to an end, to get what we want. Be it food, luxuries or power. And now I'm going to demonstrate you how to obtain those things_."

Out of nowhere, a strong, chilling breeze filled the stadium. Even in the middle of July, Kris could feel the cold wind sting immensely as it struck her face, forcing her to cover her eyes. Everyone else, even the Pokémon, felt the wind just as strongly too, Chandelure's flames starting to wane threateningly as the ghost-type had to struggle not to get blown away.

While the wind blew, the Masked Man lifted himself ten feet into the air, where he levitated as effortlessly as if he was made of smoke. He then raised his arm and fired another powerful Ice Beam, forcing everyone to take cover and prompting more frightened shrieks from the audience, who started panicking and attempting to flee again despite the Masked Man's earlier warnings. Alder's Pokémon managed to stay still, but Chandelure and Electrode were blown away by the wind and hit by the Ice Beams, forcing Kris and Eusine to recall their Pokémon before things got worse.

His laughter echoing to every corner of the stadium, the Masked Man fired Ice Beams in every direction indiscriminately, freezing parts of the arena, the seats in the audience, even hapless spectators who kept pushing and throwing each other out of the way, helplessly scrambling towards the exits.

Finally, the Masked Man stopped his attack and turned his attention to five people marching towards him, ignoring the wind almost entirely. They were five women in kimonos, joined by five Eeveelutions, a Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon and a Umbreon. Unflinchingly, all five aimed their bows directly at the Masked Man and fired, all five arrows exploding spectacularly around him. Using the explosion as cover, the five Eeveelutions charged at the Masked Man while the Kimono Girls ran to Kris and Eusine.

"Quick, get out of here!" Kuni told Kris. "We'll handle Pryce from here!"

Kris didn't have to be told twice. Dragging Eusine, who had his cape blow on his face again, with her, she left with Kuni towards the edge of the arena, but couldn't help but to look behind her as she ran, seeing Jolteon and Flareon attempt to hit the Masked Man with a Thunderbolt and Flamethrower, only to be swept away by another blizzard.

"Kimono Girls, fire!" Kuni ordered again.

The other four took aim again and fired their arrows. The Masked Man attempted to use his attacks to block them, but even when frozen, the arrows spectacularly exploded mid-air, causing fireballs strong enough to force the Masked Man to float even higher in the air to get out of their reach.

But even then, it wasn't enough. Something gigantic and red emerged from behind the stadium and flew towards the Masked Man. Kris took a moment to recognize that it was the red Gyarados, only different from before. It was bulkier and more compact than before, flying with large and pointy fins on its back that it didn't have in its earlier form. Its underside was also black instead of pale yellow. Lance could be seen standing on top of the red Gyarados just barely, something on his wrist emitting a bright shine.

The Masked Man immediately fired another ice attack at the red Gyarados, but it bounced off its tough scales harmlessly, while the red Gyarados retaliated with a Hyper Beam attack. At the same time, all five Eeveelutions attacked at the same time and all five Kimono Girls fired their arrows at the Masked Man.

Even the audience stared in awe at the ensuing explosion, the heat of the blast replacing the cold breeze that had filled the stadium. As the heat and light of the blast died down, only a thick cloud of smoke remained. Once that subsided as well, what followed was just Pryce, in his normal form, crouched down right in the middle of the arena, clutching the mask under his arm – it was still intact and Pryce himself looked unharmed even by an explosion like that.

As Lance and his Gyarados landed, the red Gyarados returned normal in a flash of light, assuming its long, serpentine shape and getting its yellow underside back again, though it still stayed red. Lance hopped off the Gyarados' back and walked over to Alder.

"You okay?" he asked Alder.

"Fine – thanks to you and the Kimono Girls," Alder said breathlessly. "I see now why this guy has caused so much trouble. How poetic that the champion of Johto would be the one to defeat him."

"I knew he would have to exhaust his energy supplies sooner or later," Lance said coldly as he turned to look at the now-helpless Pryce. "You're surrounded now, Pryce! I'm coming over to arrest you – if you try anything, we will not hesitate to blow you to smithereens!"

Kris noticed some movement around the arena. Ethan had finally emerged from his little hiding spot behind some rubble around the hole Pryce and his entourage came from. With the situation normal, Ethan tried to sneak away from the stadium – unfortunately, Pryce noticed this as well.

Just as Lance was about to walk over to him, Pryce sprinted at Ethan, leaping on him and grabbing him in a stranglehold, quickly pulling out a knife that he held at Ethan's throat.

 _Yes!_ Kris thought. _Finish him_.

"I mean, oh, dear, what a tragedy," Kris muttered.

"Rumor had it that you were a coward, Pryce," Lance said coldly, "but I thought even you'd know better than to take an innocent person hostage to save yourself. Doesn't matter though – if need be, I'll kill you _and_ that guy all at once. Gyarados!"

"No!" Alder yelled, stepping between Lance and Pryce. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"He won't be attacking any more people after this," Lance said, though he raised his arm to stop Gyarados from attacking. "Stand aside."

"I want him stopped, too, but you can't let an innocent person die to get to him!" Alder argued. "It's not worth it!"

Kris was far away from Pryce and Ethan, so she couldn't see it, but at that moment, tears flowed down Ethan's face as he shivered in Pryce's grasp, too scared to move, the tip of Pryce's knife slightly poking into his flesh and letting a little blood drip down his throat. Subtly, Pryce as already backing down towards the hole he and the others came out from.

"We've been chasing him for weeks," Lance told Alder. "We won't get a shot like this again!"

"That's not your decision anymore," Alder said. "Kuni, what about you? Are you going to 'do whatever it takes', too?"

Kuni looked at the other Kimono Girls. One by one, they lowered their bows, instead tending to their wounded Pokémon. Even Kris wasn't sure of what was right anymore – if they didn't stop Pryce now, he'd be back for more, and that time, it could be when Kris was alone, with no champions or International Police or dancers with amazing archery skills around her. But then, as Ethan's face appeared on the jumbotron (the cameraman determined to keep the story going even when most of his crew had left) and Kris saw the fear in his eyes, she couldn't help but to feel disgusted at herself for what she was thinking. At that point, Ethan just looked so... vulnerable. As if he wasn't even worth hating anymore.

Lance looked around him, but got no support from the Kimono Girls, Eusine or even Kris. Sighing, he angrily grabbed a Poké Ball from his belt, using it to recall the red Gyarados. Alder did the same to his Volcarona and Bouffalant.

"Just go, Pryce!" Alder yelled. "And don't ever show your face around here again!"

Shoving Ethan to the ground roughly, Pryce fled into the manhole. Immediately following that, Lance rushed after him without a word, followed by Looker and his fellow IP agents, who had been passively observing the battle from the sidelines. Alder went over to help Dahlia, who was regaining consciousness, while security guards poured into the field to take away Pryce's henchmen. One security guard escorted Kris and Eusine back to the interiors of the stadium.

**~o~O~o~**

Outside the stadium, Kris was finally able to breathe easy, bumping into Wes, who looked oddly cheerful considering what happened.

"Wow, wasn't that something?" he said. "I might just forget that your Champion is a tool – he really is some hot shi- _"_

" _Where the hell were you_?!" Kris snapped at Wes.

"Hiding," Wes answered nonchalantly. "As if I could do anything against that guy."

"What a cowardly display!" Eusine sneered. "It was a good thing _I_ was there, at least."

"It would have been more helpful if you'd distract him with your frozen corpse," Wes remarked. "And even then it wouldn't have accomplished much."

"You cad!" Eusine yelled. "I challenge you to a duel to the death!"

"Calm down, I think we've had enough of those for the day," Kris snapped and gave Eusine a flick on the head. "I just feel kinda bad for that Dahlia – if she got too badly hurt, then that douche Ethan wins the tournament."

"Unlikely," Wes remarked nonchalantly as he looked at his fingernails. "I caught Alder and Sird talking, and the way he acted during that battle versus what Dahlia did will probably tip the scales in her favor."

Kris, Eusine and Wes fell silent as they watched paramedics deliver some of the wounded to ambulances. Some of the civilians hit by Pryce's blast got the worst of it, some of them covered in extremely nasty-looking frostbites, many having their limbs and faces covered in bright red, purple and even black blisters. Dahlia wasn't among them, as her injuries were minor enough to treat in the stadium's infirmary. What Kris found odd that even some of the Rockets had gotten badly hurt, among them Petrel, who wasn't being rushed like the others but still looked like his face had been used as a springboard by a heavy man wearing golf shoes.

"You!" Petrel grumbled at Kris from the side of his mouth. "You... girl... c'mere!"

Kris glanced at Eusine and Wes, who both shrugged, and opted to follow the paramedics, keeping up with their pace as Petrel attempted to talk to her.

"That's what you get for impersonating Lance," Kris said mercilessly.

"A message," Petrel said through pained grunts. "A message from... the Masked Man."

"What is it?"

Suddenly, Petrel grabbed Kris' head and brought her closer, whispering his business into her ear. Kris narrowed her eyes hearing what Petrel said, but as they noticed what was happening, Wes and Eusine soon intervened, tearing Petrel's hands off Kris and allowing the paramedics to take him away. Kris just stared after him for the longest time, Wes snapping his fingers in front of Kris' face.

"'Ey!" he said loudly. "Krissy! Anybody home?"

"Stop snapping – and stop calling me that!" Kris snarled at Wes, pushing his hand away.

"Well, what did he want, then?"

"Pryce had a backup plan in place, it seems," Kris said monotonously as she stare at the ambulance containing Petrel speeding away, sirens blaring. "He threw Lance and the International Police off the trail, but he's really hiding on Mt. Silver, near the summit."

"That's great!" Eusine cheered. "Being practically BFF's with him and all, I shall inform Lance of this and we'll-"

"No," Kris said simply. "He has a hostage there – if he sees any of the Champions, or the police, or Kimono Girls or any other big group coming there, he'll be killed."

"Sounds like a bluff to me," Wes said. "Who could it be?"

"Petrel didn't have time to explain the details," Kris said, "but he mentioned a 'missing former Champion'. You fill in the blanks."

Wes and Eusine stared at Kris, Wes looking contemplative and Eusine utterly dumbstruck. All three turned to look at what loomed behind the stadium: a road led to a cavern inside the rock, which then led up to the lush green peaks around the mountain range, which then turned into the snowy peak of Mt. Silver. Somewhere where the sterile white touched the earthy green and brown was where Pryce was hiding... along with a person Kris yearned to meet. If there was anyone who could teach her the secrets of Pokémon mastery, it was him.

All it took was going to confront a homicidal lunatic with superpowers all alone.

"He told you this all... why?" Eusine wondered.

"He wanted me to come," Kris said, "but I don't know why. He already knows I don't have the GS Ball – maybe it's to get to Leaf."

"You don't have to decide this now," Wes said, "but if it will help you choose, I have something to show you."

Wes led Kris and Eusine, the latter tagging along, further away from the stadium until the trio were right next to the entrance to Mt. Silver's dark, dank interiors. The trio walked off the path and into the bushes where they came across a large cloth dyed with camouflage colors placed conspicuously over something – which Wes was about to show.

It was a dusty red motorcycle with a sidecar attached to it, the difference to normal motorbikes being the lack of wheels on the sidecar and exhaust pipes at the back pointing in random directions. In the sidecar was an assortment of weapons, mainly crossbows and both wooden and metal swords.

"I slipped Kurt a little something and told him it was for survival's sake, and he agreed to hook me up," Wes said proudly. "Here we go, a non-polluting, mostly silent electric-powered hoverbike straight from Orre. Of course, I haven't been home in almost a year, so I had to have this shipped all the way over here in parts and hide it from thieves – and the authorities."

" _Holy_ Kami in a tsunami, _wow_!" Eusine said and whistled appreciatively as he inspected the hoverbike from all sides. "Where did you get this?"

"Eh, I worked with Team Snagem for a while, and they know vehicles," Wes remarked and glanced at Kris. "I can get us in quietly, and with luck, you can get the hostage out before anything happens – or, hell, you can try to fight Pryce yourself. That'd be worth a laugh or two."

Before Kris could answer with a snippy remark, something else emerged from the bushes and stopped right in front of Kris, Wes and Eusine. It was Suicune, purple mane flowing around even thought it wasn't windy, its whole body glittering in the sunlight, its fierce eyes set on the three humans, who were paralyzed with a mix of surprise and fear. The first to recover was Eusine.

"It's here!" he yelled and pointed at Suicune. "Suicune's here! I told you! Didn't I tell you it was here?"

"Gee, where, I can't see?" Wes said and rolled his eyes

"Right over there, dude, did your lose your eyesight in the desert?" Eusine asked cluelessly.

Suicune leaped away from the group, but just as Kris thought it was going to flee again, it landed at the entrance to Mt. Silver and jerked its head towards it.

"Well, you were right on one thing," Kris said quietly. "It does want us to follow it."

_Is this really happening? The Suicune mystery, the Masked Man, Red... everything's falling into place. But the Masked Man is waiting for us there – how can we know if this isn't a trap? And if Suicune really did kill those people..._

"Screw it, I'm in!" Eusine exclaimed and jumped into the sidecar without invitation, only to yell in pain as a crossbow poked him.

Kris still stared into Suicune's determined, red eyes. Although it was hard to tell, Kris could have sworn the Pokémon briefly nodded at her. And with that, Kris believed she could trust it. Or, at least, one way or another, it would help her solve the last mystery.

"Fine, we'll go," Kris sighed. "I guess all we need to do is follow Suicune – Wes, the mere thought of asking you for a favor sickens me, but can you drive us there?"

Wes smiled arrogantly, but nodded anyway.

"You bet," he said. "I want to see how this turns out."

"Lead on, noble beast of the purest lakes and rivers," Eusine said. "Go forth like the great northern wind, like the pure, crystal being that you are-"

"My Feraligatr is hungry," Kris told Eusine.

"I'll be quiet."

* * *


	20. Kris vs. Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the others deal with Team Rocket's last remnants, Kris needs to face her greatest challenge on Mt. Silver

_Lunick kept charging down the hill, the ground collapsing all around him, rocks and dirt covering what used to be his home no matter where he looked. Those strange shadow creatures and other beings that looked nothing like the Pokémon he was used to occasionally charged at him, but his axe took care of some while the faithful Manectric that ran at his side took care of the rest with its electric attacks._

_However, all was not lost. From a brief glance, Lunick could see his warriors fleeing along with a band of civilians. The people of Alph Valley hadn't died for good after all... he had been successful. Content that he'd soon be buried by the rocks and dirt that crashed on the monsters and smothered the sizzling vortex they kept pouring from, Lunick emitted a battle cry, wanting to make sure even a single one wouldn't get near his family and friends._

_But then the vortex fired a spark of purple lightning at Lunick, knocking him down. Heedless of his condition, Manectric kept barking and zapping any unfortunate monster on its way, Lunick trying to call out for it weakly._

_As everything started to fade, the sound of the Alph Valley crumbling and the vortex zapping lightning in every direction, most likely finally on the verge of collapsing getting more distant, Lunick inhaled deeply, sure that it would be his last time._

_That was, until a small, green Pokémon suddenly flew into his view. The Pokémon had big blue eyes and resembled the fairies he had seen in story books. Would this be an angel that would guide him into the next life – or had he just hit his head when he fell._

_The sprite-like creature laughed at him, oddly enough, and started flying in circles around his head. Lunick thought the creature was mocking him and tried to weakly call out for Manectric to get rid of the thing, wanting to spend his last moments in this world feeling something else than annoyance. But then, something sparkling emerged from the area it flew around, getting bigger as the fairy creature flew faster. It was a portal just like the thing the monsters emerged from, only blue – and Lunick could feel himself being sucked inside it._

" _No," Lunick muttered weakly. "No... please, don't... just leave me here... NO!_ "

_But it was too late – the portal swallowed him whole._

**Chapter Twenty: _Kris vs. Destiny_**

Kris woke up with a sudden jolt as Wes' hoverbike stopped. Having to listen to the Eusine rambling about Suicune's beautiful features on one side and Wes talking about his time spent in Orre working for and against criminal gangs on the other side had made Kris fall asleep halfway through. Ever since touching the strange writing back at the Ruins of Alph, Kris had occasionally had dreams about the mysterious Lunick and something that had happened where the Ruins of Alph were now. What Kris was unsure on was _what_ exactly, though the green fairy-like Pokémon in her latest dream looked familiar, somehow.

"We're here," Wes announced.

Kris, Eusine and Wes hopped out of the bike and on their feet, getting a sense of their surroundings. The tunnel that they drove through felt almost endless, but they had finally reached the point from where driving was impossible. Suicune, who had led them through the tunnel, stopped to wait for them, though it jumped on a large rock to avoid Eusine trying to capture it again.

Kris looked around her. It was already colder up where she was and the air was thinner, even if the altitude wasn't _too_ devastating. A view of nothing but jagged, rocky terrain opened before her, and Kris would have to climb over them to reach the entrance to another tunnel, which most likely led her to the summit. Thankful that she had bought the winter jacket Wes had given her, something which Wes was all too quick to point out, Kris put it on, along with a scarf and a pair of gloves. Eusine seemed to do fine in his suit, though.

Eusine also turned down the crossbow Wes tried to give him, demonstrating the metal blade that extended from his sleeve and almost poked Wes' eye out. Kris, however, gratefully accepted the crossbow and bolts Wes gave her, as just holding them alleviated Kris' nervousness a little.

"Well, good luck!" Wes said with a wave of his hand and sat back on his bike. "I hope you kill that bastard, et cetera."

"Wait, what?!" Kris snapped and accidentally almost fired the crossbow at Wes. "You're not coming with us?"

"First of all, the bike can't get there and I'm not a fan of mountains in the first place," Wes remarked. "Second, I don't remember saying I was going to come _all the way_. I just promised to take you here. I'd like to keep my head where it is, thank you very much."

"What a shame," Eusine said cheerfully. "Good thing I'm here for you, Kris – Pryce will have to get his brown cloak out when he sees me coming his way!"

Eusine started to practice with his springblade, making weird hand gestures in attempt to bring it out faster and testing its edge on dead tree sticking out from between two rocks. While Eusine did his thing, Wes pulled Kris closer to himself.

"You absolutely sure about this, Krissy?" he asked quietly, already annoying Kris despite his somber tone. "You know you could have asked Lance for support – with his authority, we could have blown up the summit with Pryce in it."

"Even if he did cause Pryce to escape, Alder was right," Kris retorted. "We can't let innocent people die stopping him, and we can't stop him just because it'll make us famous – we have to stop him because it's the right thing to do."

Wes smiled, as if he was expecting that answer. "I'm glad you think so."

"Then again," Kris pondered as she aimed the crossbow into the distance with one eye closed. "I wouldn't mind the 'getting famous' part, either, so why not just take out two Pidgey with one Poké Ball... or whatever."

Wes shook his head and laughed softly. "You're not exactly how I expected, but I don't actually mind."

"What are you talking about?" Kris asked in annoyance.

"Remember when I said that I had made a promise?" Wes asked. "Well, I'm not saying I have never lied before – in fact, if I had a pokédollar every time I told a lie, then you _know_ I would be relaxing on that beach in Hoenn. But that time, I told you the truth. There are people who want you to succeed, and one of them is an old friend of Red's."

"Leaf?" Kris asked.

"Didn't even know who she was until yesterday," Wes said. "No, it's someone else. Someone I met at Navel Rock. They saved my life and bought us a little more time. I'm not sure I wrapped my head around it myself, but all I know is that some real bad things are happening, and that buddy of Red's might be the only person who knows how to stop them. But to do that, we need Red, and we need a skilled Pokémon trainer to bring him out from wherever he is... I think, anyway. Just don't ask me how I ended up on you, I don't think you'd believe it, and you're not the only one I kept tabs on. But just know this – the moment you decided to enter those trials was the moment you became a lot more important than you even know."

Kris frowned at Wes. This was the longest time he had gone talking without making some stupid or annoying remark, and he wasn't even grinning like a moron – his face was hard and determined, which made Kris scratch her head. Wes' tone reminded her of what Janine had said:

" _You know, when you showed up at Azalea Town, you were nothing but a convenient patsy the Mask of Ice could use. A nobody, you could say. But now you've become a real nuisance for him and more important than you even know..."_

"Do you know what the seed of Darkrai is?" Kris asked.

Wes just tilted his head in confusion with his mouth slightly open. "The what of what?" he wondered.

Kris stared back at him. There was no way to tell whether he was being honest or not, but Kris had to trust her instincts with this one.

"Never mind," Kris said. "Look, I appreciate your interest, but maybe you got the wrong person. I'll try my best, but I'm nothing special."

"No one is special, and no one is ordinary, in my opinion," Wes said with a shrug. "You have potential to do something great - and you also have a potential to die a horrible death in the hands of the Mask of Ice. But, it's your choice, and if Red really is here... a lot of people want to find him."

Kris swung the crossbow over her shoulder and prepared to leave.

"Thanks for this, Wes," Kris said. "One day you're going to have to explain what you just said a little more. Can you do one thing for me, though?"

"Sure, if it involves getting the hell out of here," Wes said casually.

"Go find Iris, Blaine and the others. Even if Pryce is here, I'm afraid that he has something planned for them. Just back them up the best you can and don't do anything dumb."

"Okay, but no promises on that last one."

With a last annoying wave, Wes started his bike and drove back into the tunnel, quickly disappearing from sight. The noise the hoverbike made was negligent and probably wouldn't alert the Masked Man, so Kris allowed herself to breathe easy. She then looked up at the rock where Suicune was still standing.

"Um, thank you for leading us here!" she yelled at it, unsure of how to address a legendary Pokémon. "You're, um... you're just as amazing as the legends say you are. Oh, and thanks for your help earlier, you know, back in Ecruteak City. Can I just... well, you can't answer me anyway, but whatever. They're blaming you for that incident in Sinnoh, those people who were killed on Route 224. Do you know who could have-"

Suicune didn't stick around anymore. Before Kris could finish her sentence, it leaped off the rock and ran back into the tunnel, its speed making it just a blue blur in Kris' eyes, and soon enough, it was gone. Kris sighed, while Eusine pointed and laughed.

"Hah, I knew it!" he mocked. "I'm not the only one it ran away from! In your face!"

"Okay, seriously, you're a grown man, stop that," Kris said and loaded her crossbow ready. "We better get to the summit area quickly."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Azalea Town, Johto** _

Lyra, Silver and Kurt had flown to Azalea Town using Lyra's Braviary. Though their destination was the Ilex Forest, a path leading to it right from Kurt's house, Kurt had made them stop there to grab some weapons, as he had given the ones he brought to Mt. Silver to Wes. Kurt gave Lyra and Silver a crossbow each and decided to go with a katana himself. With that, the trio headed to the Ilex Forest in relative silence. They walked along the same path for about fifteen minutes until Silver noticed something and held out his hand to stop the other two.

Suddenly, Silver stomped towards an inconspicuous bush and pulled a tall man in a suit out of it. Lyra barely recognized him from the domino mask and impressive mustache.

"Hey, you're that one guy!" she said.

"His name is Missile," Silver pointed out as the man in question got on his feet and made a snooty expression at Silver as he dusted off his suit.

"All right, I'm _reasonably_ impressed," Missile said arrogantly as he took out a small comb from his pocket and started running it through his hair. "How'd you know I was there?"

"You've been eavesdropping us since you got thrown out of the stadium on Mt. Silver," Silver said bluntly. "You know, after I destroyed your ass in that battle?"

"That wasn't-" Missile took a deep breath to cool down. "Had I trained my Pokémon just a bit further, they would have been more alert and you'd be the one they had thrown out. Painfully. On your ass," he added and rubbed his backside. "But _you_ were also the one who took advantage of me and ordered that Orrean bastard to steal the precious Poké Ball from that girl! I have come to-"

"If you came here to steal it, just forget it, that's happened so often it's not even funny anymore," Lyra snapped and aimed her crossbow at Missile.

"What? No!" Missile cried out and put his hands in the air. "Put that out, you could kill someone with it!"

"That is the intention, yes," Kurt said dryly. "Well, _wound_ is more accurate, I guess."

"As you can see, I discarded my old uniform," Missile said and brushed his fingers across his dapper black tuxedo. "Not the most practical for these kinds of things, I admit, but I do love to go in style. I know my old comrades at _Neo_ Team Rocket are after that pretty Poké Ball and whatever it is that you're doing is going to cause great trouble to them. And I want in!"

"Hold the phones," Lyra said, lowering her crossbow a bit. "You're saying you used to work for Team Rocket, but now you hate them?"

"Oh, don't be so high and mighty," Missile said impatiently. "Even your local florist could be an ex-Rocket. When Giovanni took control of the organization, he grew the size of the organization by the hundreds all over Kanto, Johto, the Sevii Islands and elsewhere. We were feared throughout the land, yes, but we were also respected. We didn't kill anyone – until they butted their noses in our affairs, anyway – and reserved our more violent acts for the Pokémon. And don't forget that thanks to Giovanni, Kanto's unemployment was almost nonexistent! Don't forget the millions he gave to charity during his rule! Who knows, even if _your_ life could have benefited from their existence. So what if we shook down some businesses, or embezzled money from the authorities, or bribed some other authorities, or blew up Giovanni's rival firms... are those _such_ crimes?! Well, I suppose they are, but compared to what that Masked asshole is doing-"

"To the point, please!" Silver said harshly. "So you're as weak as the rest of them? You'd grovel at your boss' feet and do whatever he told you?"

"Me?!" Missile exclaimed dramatically and gasped. "I'd do no such thing! I am my own master! I never even met the guy. Truth is..." Missile rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I only joined this stupid gang because the Blackthorn museum wouldn't hire me, and my degree wasn't worth _crap_ anywhere. I had a family to look after – maybe not as fancy as _your_ family, but I consider my Pokémon such as well!"

Lyra finally lowered her crossbow entirely and Kurt put his katana back in its sheath. Silver continued to glare at Missile, but didn't do anything to stop him from talking. Missile himself pulled out a gigantic white handkerchief and blew his nose on it dramatically.

"I was trained by that scumbag Proton!" Missile reminisced. "During my time spent in their base, I was promised so many things. They told me I'd see Giovanni in person and I heard so much about him from the rest of the grunts – that allowed me to endure the abuse I suffered at Proton's hands. But even after my training was complete, they gave me the crap jobs – I didn't even _hear_ about Giovanni's fall until months later after I escorted some package to Holon! And then, on the day I met our new leader, I promised I'd become as powerful and as feared as Team Rocket once was and wipe this pathetic excuse for a Yakuza off the face of the Earth entirely!"

Once Missile finished his rant with his finger held in the air dramatically, Silver opted for a slow, sarcastic clap.

"Riveting tale, chap," he deadpanned, "but am I supposed to forget all the things you did?"

"Oh, cool off, red," Lyra said and rolled her eyes as she pushed Silver aside. "Are _we_ supposed to forget that you stole two Pokémon?"

Silver looked away from Lyra, which was odd, because Lyra would have thought he'd answer with a biting remark. She had battled him in the Whirl Cup and had gotten a taste of his personality there, not to mention all those things she had heard from Iris and professor Elm. But Lyra had also seen him with Leaf – and the look in his eyes when he was reunited with her was something he couldn't fake.

And if he had some good in him, then there was no reason an ex-Rocket wouldn't have it either.

"You can come with us," Lyra promised Missile, who clapped his hands together in delight. "I saw you in the Silver Conference – even if you didn't earn your way in, you made it to the second round against people who did. I'm sure you'll be of help. That okay, Kurt?"

"As long as he doesn't try to steal the GS Ball anymore," Kurt remarked. "But we need to get going."

"Thank you!" Missile yelled and grabbed Lyra to hug her enthusiastically. "Your kindness towards me and my family will never be forgotten!"

"Oh, um, cool, but maybe you shouldn't hug me – you put on way too much aftershave," Lyra said and pushed Missile away. "Now that you're here, though... professor Elm and Dr. Blaine told me about the Mewtwo incident-"

Lyra noticed that Silver was looking at her from the corner of her eye, but as soon as she looked, Silver averted his gaze. Lyra nudged him with her elbow teasingly.

"Come on, I know Leaf told you all about it, so I won't keep you out of the loop," Lyra said cheerfully, and could swear she almost saw Silver crack a smile as well. "Missile – did you know Giovanni himself tried to steal Mewtwo a while ago?"

Missile frowned and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "No, I didn't," he admitted. "I did, however, spy on that pervy disguise artist, Petrel. Pryce had ordered him and a squad of Team Rocket's red shirts to catch Mewtwo for him."

"Right," Lyra said and crossed her arms. "I wish they would have involved me from the beginning – I would have cracked this case much sooner. Why did Pryce need to capture Mewtwo if he already controlled it before, back in Ecruteak?"

"Did he say anything about why he needed the GS Ball?" Kurt asked Missile suddenly.

Missile snapped his fingers. "Yes, he did!" he said. "It was to, um... I heard Archer talk about it after too many White Russians. "Something about the, uh, 'ultimate Pokémon' and 'making the Masked Man's dream true' but he also said it wasn't 'what Giovanni would have wanted'. He said, and this is what I was sure to make note of, that 'the world can be shaped to his liking' once he gets what he wants."

Lyra and Kurt glanced at each other with frightened expression while Silver scowled. Adjusting her crossbow, Lyra strode confidently into the woods.

"Well, we have no time to lose, then," she said briskly.

Silver, Kurt and Missile soon followed, Missile looking a little wary about whether he should be there, but no one protested when he joined. After some walking, Kurt told him he wasn't going to trust him with a weapon, but Missile demonstrated he already had one: a stun baton used by many other Rocket Grunts.

Together, the unlikely foursome made their way deeper into the forest, the abundance of thick, tall trees soon blocking the sun from view. Kurt guided the rest of the group down a complicated, winding path through the densely growing trees, the path getting increasingly narrower while the forest itself got darker. As they walked on in silence, with just Kurt occasionally reassuring them it wouldn't be much longer, every noise made Lyra and Silver flinch. Whether it was the sound of someone stepping on a twig and snapping it in half, a Hoothoot suddenly flapping its wings or a bug Pokémon crawling past the group's feet, Silver in particular jerked his head at every possible noise. Even then, he tried to hide his nervousness under his usual stoic expression.

As Kurt led the group away from the path, he had to use his katana to slice some trees and other growths out of his way, clearing a path to the very center of the forest. There, on a clearing abundant with long, thick grass was a small wooden structure: a Shinto shrine covered in leaves and moss. Delicately, as if he didn't even want to do it, Kurt opened the small wooden doors of the shrine, revealing a circular indentation carved in the shape of a Poké Ball.

"This is the Ilex Forest shrine," Kurt exposited. "It was built in the honor of the forest's guardian who knows how long ago, and it is said to ward off evil spirits. About a day after I received the GS Ball for study, the forest reacted strongly. It is difficult to explain, but there was a storm, Pokémon acting in a bizarre fashion and reports of strange energy readings near the shrine. My studies with the GS Ball were interrupted when Team Rocket stole the town's Slowpoke, and once I gave the ball to your friend, all of that stopped. As soon as I heard about my son's arrest, I wanted to find a way to get the ball back."

Kurt brushed the shrine with his fingers reverently before taking the GS Ball out of his bag, holding it for all to see. This was the second time Lyra had seen it, and though the gold and silver coloration made it look intriguing, it didn't seem _that_ different from a standard Poké Ball. It was the same size, no fancy glow effects, nothing.

"How disappointing," Lyra remarked. "I was sure something was gonna happen."

"I think something _will_ happen," Kurt said as he stared at the GS Ball. "I had heard about your friend's intentions of competing in the Silver Conference and fortuitously ran into Dr. Blaine and professor Elm who explained me about what had happened. There might truly be a Pokémon in this ball, and since it was Pryce who originally sent it to me to discover a mechanism to open it... well, we'll see."

Lyra, Silver and Missile stared as Kurt placed the GS Ball in the indentation that seemed to be made for it. For a few seconds, the ball was just there, inert and unspectacular, nothing happening to it.

Then, it suddenly emitted a bright glow that filled the shrine and illuminated the entire clearing. Having to shield their eyes, the group still tried to see what was going on. They could hear the familiar sound of a Poké Ball being opened, and then the shrine shot a multicolored beam of light into the air.

From that light, a Pokémon emerged. But it wasn't Mewtwo, nor Mew, for that matter. It wasn't exactly what came to mind when talking about a 'ultimate Pokémon'. It was small, green fairy-like creature with big, blue eyes and small, clear, fluttering wings. It flew around in circles for a while before setting its gaze on the group on the ground that stared at it in awe, Kurt in particular falling to his knees at the sight of it.

"The guardian!" he gasped. "It's the legendary Pokémon Celebi! I... I never dreamed of living to see it."

" _Don't worry – we can do something about that!_ "

The clearing was suddenly filled with noises, people emerging from bushes on every side. Soon, five Team Rocket Grunts appeared, all equipped with similar batons as Missile, accompanied by a red-haired woman in a fancy white suit. Though the bright light coming from the shrine made it hard to see, Silver still recognized her.

"Thank you for helping us get Celebi," Ariana said, aiming some kind of energy weapon at the little green Pokémon, "but you've served your purpose now. For your own sake, I suggest you stand back."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Mt. Silver, Johto** _

Kris and Eusine had made it past the second tunnel, emerging in the summit area, Kris' legs screaming for mercy, a stabbing pain hitting her sides. The climb had been tough, but the duo had finally made it. The summit area was less jagged than the previous area, the ground entirely covered with snow. There were small spruce and pine trees growing, bringing a little green to the otherwise white, gray and brown visage.

The actual peak of the mountain could barely be seen from where Kris and Eusine were standing, but only an experienced mountain climber could get there. However, an entrance to another cave was only a short, manageable uphill hike away, so Kris and Eusine headed there.

"So, Kris," Eusine said all of a sudden as the two slowly made their way up, slipping on the snow and icy rocks all the while. "Why did you come here?"

"What kind of question is that?" Kris grunted after almost falling on her face, having to use the crossbow's strap to keep it hanging on her back as she climbed. "I did tell you that Pryce threatened to murder people, right?"

"He's bluffing, I'm sure of it," Eusine said. "If he had hostages, why didn't he announce it at the Conference? Force the world to give him what he wants!"

"If he had done that, the whole region, maybe the whole country would have learned about it," Kris reasoned. "Call me cynical, but people like Alder, people who think everyone can be saved are in the minority. People would have reasoned that even if he kills a hostage or two, getting rid of Pryce will be for the greater good."

"Well, you can't be too cynical," Eusine said suavely, "seeing as you're here doing the same thing as that Alder guy, freezing your ass off for someone you've never even met."

Kris smiled briefly, but her face soon hardened as she had to climb, grabbing the jagged rocks on the ground for support. Though talking exhausted her a bit, it still helped ease the ominous feeling in her gut.

"So I still gotta ask," Eusine continued, climbing seeming almost effortless to him. "Why did you choose to come? A few able-bodied International Police agents would have gotten the job done just as well. You want to be the one to save this Red guy? Or do you think this is your destiny or something?"

Kris scoffed. "No such thing," she muttered. "Or if there is, I'm not going to lie down and accept it. But... I want to be useful. After everything that has happened, like the Radio Tower incident, I felt like I could actually be worth something. I haven't exactly been showing any exemplary traits required to be a Pokémon master or whatever. And I've been pretty crappy to some people. Still, I want to help, and for once, I want to be the one to get credit for it, too!"

Eusine reached the ledge before Kris, who almost slipped and lost her footing, but Eusine grabbed her hands and pulled her up. Kris muttered her thanks to her before stopping to catch her breath.

"It's just," she panted and looked at Eusine, "does that make me selfish?"

Eusine shrugged. "Maybe, but so are we all," he said casually. "I want to be here because I made a promise to solve the Suicune case, and I feel this will get us to the bottom of it. But I'd lie if I wasn't here for selfish reasons, too: if I beat Pryce, I'll earn Suicune's respect for sure, and then my personal destiny will finally be fulfilled!"

Kris shook her head at Eusine's dramatics, though he was less hammy about this time, she had to admit.

"Though given all you're risking, I'd say if there's anyone worth its respect, it's you," Eusine smirked. "And..."

Kris had to do a double-take when Eusine looked and sounded oddly somber. He wasn't even using his dramatic voice or anything.

"...I'm pretty sure that's the way it's gonna go," Eusine muttered. "I guess I haven't been the most exemplary person either. And besides, it's such a beautiful Pokémon – it belongs with a beautiful person."

Kris made a weird noise that sounded like something between a snort and a gasp, which she soon covered by coughing loudly. She gave Eusine an incredulous look, raising her eyebrows at him.

"That was terrible," she scoffed at him, though couldn't help but to smile. "Seriously, do you even know what you just said?"

"Sorry, habit, I have an image to uphold, you know," Eusine said, glancing at Kris. "Did you just blush?"

Kris adjusted her scarf so it hid her face better. "It's cold here."

"Should we get going now?" Eusine suggested.

Kris nodded. She and Eusine took a step towards the cavern, but soon stumbled many steps backwards, almost falling off the ledge as a strong, chilling gust of wind suddenly blew past them.

"No..." Kris said to herself. "He's here."

Indeed he was. The sudden blizzard had obscured Kris and Eusine's view for a moment, but now they saw the Masked Man standing in front of the entrance to the cave, black cape and long white hair flowing in the wind, bony, deformed arms sticking out from the under the cape, ending in animal-like claws.

" _I thought the message was clear, I suppose I shouldn't have trusted Petrel of all people to deliver it properly_ ," the Masked Man said calmly. " _You had to come alone_."

"N-no!" Kris protested, raising the crossbow while a metal blade sprung from Eusine's sleeve, Eusine assuming a fighting stance. "You said I wasn't allowed to tell the Champions or the police! I didn't, I swear!"

The Masked Man threw his head back and cackled crazily, the sound of his laughter echoing all over the mountain. Kris used the opportunity to fire the crossbow at him, but the moment the bolt left the weapon, the Masked Man stopped laughing and extended his arm, the bolt freezing and shattering into hundreds of tiny pieces mid-air.

" _Not your brightest move, kid_ ," the Masked Man said mercilessly. " _You should know by now: this mask gives me superhuman_ _levels of strength, agility, endurance and reflexes._ _You might as well have chucked a snowball at me. So, will you tell me who this oddly dressed friend of yours is_?"

Eusine clenched his teeth together. "You don't remember me?!" he yelled at Pryce. "I still owe you for that beating at Ecruteak City!"

" _No, sorry._ "

"You're famous for being arrogant, Pryce," Eusine laughed. "Some would even call you, dare I say... cold?"

Kris rolled her eyes.

"But it's high time someone showed you your place!" Eusine boasted and grabbed a Poké Ball from his belt.

Seeing this made Kris do the same and attempt to throw it. "Chand-"

The Masked Man reacted instantaneously, firing an Ice Beam at the Poké Ball in Kris' hands. It froze solid immediately, and would have taken Kris' fingers with it had Kris not let go of it. Kris watched helplessly as her now-useless Poké Ball dropped into the snow, but this allowed Eusine to send out his own Pokémon.

It was Alakazam, who prepared its spoons for a Psychic attack. But before it could do anything, the Masked Man charged, whipping up a cloud of snow into the air. Kris and Eusine ran to opposite directions, throwing themselves into the ground. Once they were able to see again, they saw Alakazam clutching an apparent wound in its body before collapsing. Cursing, Eusine quickly withdrew his only fighting-worthy Pokémon.

" _Oh, and I should have probably mentioned superhuman speed, too_ ," the Masked Man said casually. " _It's hard to control, but now that I don't particularly care what I hit... oh, and_ _I don't think withdrawing your Pokémon will work, young man – you're not going to get to a Pokémon Center quickly enough to have it healed._ "

Scrambling back on their feet, Kris and Eusine ignored fighting and instead ran helplessly towards the cavern, hoping to find shelter there, but the Masked Man lazily lifted his arm and blasted at the ground beneath Kris, making her slip and fall. Eusine stopped running as he saw her fall, and instead, stepped in front of her, blade out and ready to fight.

" _Oh, lovely_ ," the Masked Man gloated. " _You're one of_ those _people. Just full of valiance and bravado. But don't fret – I'll get that out of you_."

The Masked Man raised both of his arms and whipped up another cold breeze. The force of the wind was strong enough to tear Eusine's cape off and throw him on the ground while Kris was lifted into the air and slammed into the rocky wall next to the cavern's entrance.

Though her vision got hazy, Kris could barely see the Masked Man approach Eusine, who slowly got back on his feet. Kris tried to yell at him to run, but just attempting to make a sound was too painful right now. And it wasn't because she had been hurt.

She didn't want Eusine to leave. She wanted to yell at him to come pick her up and help her run. She wanted him to help her. She wanted anyone to help her.

 _It's my fault that he's here in the first place_...

Screaming his lungs out, Eusine charged at the Masked Man with his blade out, surprisingly managing to land a hit. But the blade only cut off a piece of the Masked Man's cloak, allowing the Mask to grab his blade and freeze it solid, then break it apart.

" _Ooh, that looks like fun_ ," the Masked Man gloated. _"Here, let me try."_

The Masked Man lifted Eusine up in the air with one arm, holding him by his throat. Eusine tried to kick and struggle against his grip the best he could, Kris trying to fruitlessly reach for a Poké Ball – but what could she use anyway? The only Pokémon that could conceivably hurt him was trapped inside its ball.

A long, icy spear appeared on the Masked Man's arm, and before Kris could throw a Poké Ball, she was forced to helplessly watch the Masked Man ruthlessly stab the spear into Eusine's chest. Eusine's eyes widened in horror and pain, his whole body contorting as the attack struck him.

Tears filled Kris' eyes as the realization struck her. She watched helplessly, unable to even think clearly as the ice spear evaporated and the Masked Man chucked Eusine away, letting his immobile body land flat on his face – he didn't show any signs of life. Kris' whole body was shaking in fear and rage as the Masked Man then turned his motionless, constantly grinning face at Kris, his blood-smeared hand reached out towards her.

Somewhere on the back of Kris' head, a voice was telling her to keep on and fight. There was no way she would die on this mountain – and there was no way she would let Eusine do it either. He couldn't be dead yet – he was way too annoying to die. Kris scrambled desperately on her feet, but the Masked Man launched something at her. It was another ice spear, though it only grazed her waist, leaving a deep cut that stung badly, but didn't stop her from running.

But it did break her belt apart, causing all four of her remaining Poké Balls to drop. Kris knew exactly what the Masked Man was going to do next, and desperately lunged for one more Poké Ball as Pryce fired his Ice Beam at the rest, freezing all three solid. Clutching on the last Poké Ball, making a note that it was marked with a blue 'T', Kris fled into the cavern. As she had hoped, there was light coming from the other side, the tunnel.

As she made it halfway into the tunnel, what she saw next forced her to stop. At first, it just seemed like an ice sculpture, only one far too well-shaped into a human. And it wasn't just any human: even through the thick layer of ice encasing him, Kris could recognize the hair, the cap and the jacket. Even if Kris hadn't met him in person, she had seen his face many time before.

" _How the mighty have fallen_ ," the Masked Man gloated, having followed Kris, calmly observing the man trapped in the ice. " _I did tell you I had him as a hostage, didn't I?_ _Did you think I was bluffing?_ "

"H-how? Kris stuttered, staring into the frozen boy's eyes – his expression wasn't angry or defiant, his face just expressed mild surprise over getting turned into ice. "He was the youngest Champion ever... he defeated Giovanni... how could...?"

" _The poor boy found out something he shouldn't know about_ ," the Masked Man remarked. " _P_ _owerful p_ _eople,_ _the same ones he crossed,_ _were willing to look the other way when I resurrected Neo Team Rocket_ _if I took care of him for them, and seeing as he stood in the way of my plan, I cheerfully_ _opted to take the job._ _I figured he would come to Mt. Silver to hide and train his Pokémon until he was ready for a counterattack._ _But just freezing him to death just wasn't_ fun _enough._ _As this little get-together_ _proves, he's still more useful alive –_ _or whatever degree of alive he is anyway._ "

So it really had been true. Kris didn't want to believe it, but there he was. The missing former Champion from Pallet Town, the hero who defeated Team Rocket. The sole ray of hope she had against the Masked Man and Neo Team Rocket was nothing more than a statue now. Kris never wanted to collapse and just cry out at the world right now.

But she couldn't. No one would suffer for her selfishness again. And if the legendary Champion was really here and still alive... there still was a chance.

Once again, Kris ran towards the exit of the tunnel. The Masked Man could have stopped her with an Ice Beam, but for whatever reason, he just lazily followed her, easily keeping up with Kris' pace as she struggled against the snow. When she was up to her knees in snow and the Masked Man was catching up to her, she opened her last Poké Ball.

"Croc!" she yelled at the Feraligatr as it materialized. "You have to listen to me now! I know your opponent is not a Pokémon, but you can't underestimate him! You have to fight him!"

The Masked Man stopped his advance and just stared at the Feraligatr. Croc snapped its jaws and growled at the Masked Man, claws extended, head lowered, clearly ready to charge into action...

...and then it collapsed on the ground lazily and started picking its teeth, completely ignoring the situation at hand.

" _Croc_!" Kris scremed. "Fight now, you asshole!"

The Masked Man just laughed mercilessly. " _Say, Kris, I'm sure you know that the body of a human being is 70% water? Well,_ _in the case of water-type Pokémon, that number can be up to 90%._ _Watch_."

As he raised his hand again, the Masked Man fired an Ice Beam at Croc's torso. This seemed to hurt it, finally making its snap its jaws at Pryce and leap into action – but the Masked Man kept firing his Ice Beam continuously, and soon enough, the ice spread throughout Croc's entire body, freezing its legs, torso, its right arm and finally its head. Only about half of Croc's left arm was left unfrozen, as the Masked Man seemed to be amused by the sight of Croc's hand futilely grasping for something to grab.

" _Ahh, you know, I'm actually glad my idiot henchmen got thrown in the slammer_ ," the Masked Man chuckled as he turned to look at Kris. " _There's nothing like getting into the good fight all by yours-_ "

Kris fired her crossbow at him, loading it with bolts as fast as she could while screaming in fear. The Masked Man lazily blocked most of the bolts, his cloak apparently just absorbing the rest.

" _Good, you didn't hesitate_ ," the Masked Man said when Kris stopped. " _Now, will you finally stay still for us to have a little chat?_ "

Kris made another desperate dash away from the Masked Man and into the thickets of snow-covered trees. Sighing theatrically, the Masked Man lazily followed her, giving the frozen Croc a little pat on the head as he passed it.

" _Don't go anywhere_ ," he told it.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Ilex Forest, Johto** _

Ariana and the five Rockets had Lyra, Silver, Missile and Kurt surrounded. Kurt put his hand on his katana, but didn't take it out just yet, while Lyra and Silver gripped their crossbows. The Rockets' Pokémon, two Machoke, two Raticate and a Muk, soon came out of the woodwork as well. Ariana and all the grunts were also wearing the same white half-masks as the rest of Pryce's cronies.

"So you went and did it," Ariana said appreciatively as she gazed up at Celebi, who seemed confused and disoriented to be out of the GS Ball. "The boss had an inkling you'd try something like this. We've been waiting in this crummy forest for _five goddamn day_ _s_! But it has finally paid off – the secret to time-travel is ours."

Lyra glanced at Kurt, who seemed just as confused at Ariana's words as her.

"Now the boss can stop wasting time on Mt. Silver," Ariana said and pulled a handheld transceiver out of her pocket. "Once I call him here, you can say goodbye to pretty much everyth-"

Silver reacted immediately, firing his crossbow directly at the transceiver, knocking it out of Ariana's hands and breaking it.

"Don't tell him just yet," Silver said coldly, hands shaking with barely contained fury even if his voice was as calm as usual. "Do you think I'm going to let you keep hurting more people and Pokémon? I told you before – I'm going to erase every last one of you. Team Rocket will be no more."

"Oh, now I recognize you," Ariana smiled. "You're that sweet little boy from earlier. I'm glad we got the chance to see each other again."

Ariana nodded at her goons. "Destroy them," she said plainly.

Lyra and Missile were quick to pull out their Poké Balls, Lyra sending out Scorch, her Typhlosion, while Missile went with his Victreebel. The Rockets' Pokémon attacked them all at once while Kurt charged at the Rockets themselves with his katana. The Rockets didn't seem to mind, though, and dodged his cuts easily while attempting to respond with their batons.

Silver didn't even bother sending out a Pokémon, but personally walked towards Ariana. A Rocket tried to tackle him from his left, but Silver calmly fired a crossbow bolt into his thigh before continuing his march towards the woman in charge, ignoring the Rocket Grunt's agonized screams. Noticing his advance, Ariana sent out her Vileplume and Arbok out at the same time, forcing Silver to bring out his Magneton.

The clearing was eventually full of fighting people and Pokémon, attacks flying in every direction, Scorch's fire attacks in particular managing to hit their targets with pinpoint accuracy, the other attacks often hitting the trees and bushes around them. Celebi observed the chaos from above, its eyes wide open with curiosity.

In the chaos, as he was confident Victreebel could handle two Raticate at a time, Missile himself charged at Ariana, whose Pokémon were keeping Silver's Magneton busy.

"Ms. Ariana!" Missile yelled at her. "I hope you thought fondly of me while I was gone!"

Ariana turned to look at him lazily, arms crossed. "Should I know you?"

"I... damn it, I was your most loyal subordinate!" Missile cried. "I would have gladly extended our reach to the stars above if you had just trusted me! Why was I never accepted into the winner's circle?"

Ariana cocked an eyebrow at him. "No, seriously, I have no idea who you are."

"YOU LYING HARLOT!"

Missile held his stun baton high as he charged at Ariana, only for her Arbok to whack him in the stomach and toss him away. Seizing the opportunity, Silver told Magneton to use Thunder Wave on Vileplume as he fired his crossbow at the distracted Arbok.

This only served to irritate the poison-type, who hissed loudly at Silver. From Ariana's nod, it leaped towards him, wrapping its tail around Silver's neck. Silver tried to pull Arbok's tail away with all of his might, desperately trying to inch his hands between Arbok's strong tail and his neck, trying to prevent it from squeezing. Satisfied, Ariana walked calmly towards the Celebi, aiming her energy weapon at it.

"Oh, no you don't!" Lyra yelled.

Lyra raised her crossbow at Ariana, but Ariana fired the weapon at her before that. Lyra stumbled out of the way of the beam, which shot just past her body, Lyra feeling the heat it gave off. Ariana turned to walk towards Lyra instead, ignoring that Celebi was starting to fly in strange, irregular patterns over the clearing.

"One of Doc Gideon's inventions," Ariana gloated at Lyra, whose Typhlosion was battling against the Muk and couldn't see what was happening to its trainer, Lyra having trained it to act autonomously. "The boss knew that the GS Ball would be rendered useless once it was opened and had a device built specifically for trapping a legendary Pokémon. Though I wonder how it will react if it gets used against a human..."

At that point, Silver didn't hesitate anymore. He sank his teeth into the Arbok's tail, the Cobra Pokémon finally loosening its grip and screeching in pain, allowing Silver to wiggle out and grab one of the knives in his pocket. With deadly accuracy, he managed to make the knife graze Ariana's hand, making a deep, almost surgically precise incision on her palm and causing her to drop the weapon and yell out in pain.

Meanwhile, something happened with Celebi. It continued its seemingly pointless circling, creating a sparkling orb of energy in the middle of the pattern. Missile was the first to notice it, having gotten up from the Arbok's attack, clutching his stomach. A nearby grunt noticed his presence and tried to charge at him, but the taller Missile easily stopped him with an open-palm strike to the face.

"Quiet," he told at the grunt as he whimpered when Missile held his head in his grip. "Do you see that?"

Kurt had noticed it too, having defeated his own opponents handily. He watched in almost religious awe as the orb became larger, forming a blue vortex of energy around it that started to surround the entire clearing. Noticing Kurt's staring, Missile rushed at him and started to pull him away, recalling Victreebel with his other hand.

"Get out of there, old man!" Missile yelled and glared at the still-conscious Rocket grunts. "Hey, you! Any of you want to survive, grab your Pokémon and your buddies and drag them out of here! You too, Super Maria!" he yelled at Lyra.

Lyra had noticed the portal, and her eyes were shifting between it and Silver scuffling with Ariana, who had completely lost it after being wounded. Without its trainers commands, Silver's Magneton was aimless and was taken out by Vileplume's Sleep Powder.

"Just go!" Silver yelled at Lyra. "I can't let her hurt any more Pokémon! I'll be right with you!"

Lyra nodded nervously. "Scorch, we're going – grab that Raticate with you and let's go!"

Lyra's Typhlosion didn't hesitate or wonder why it should help its enemies. It swung the fallen Raticate on its shoulder and carried it away from the clearing, Lyra following suit. Now only Ariana, Silver and Ariana's Pokémon were in the clearing, the vortex spinning even faster and causing a powerful breeze to blow through the forest.

The others were watching from the bushes, though the still-conscious Rocket Grunts had recalled their Pokémon and fled the forest in horror. When Lyra noticed Ariana kicking Silver away and running to her Pokémon, giving them orders, making the Arbok and Vileplume approach Silver threateningly, she couldn't just stand by helplessly anymore.

"Scorch, Fire Spin!" she ordered.

Typhlosion fired a spiraling red-orange flame at Ariana and her Pokémon. When it reached them, it didn't burn them to a crisp, merely started to curl around them. Soon enough, Ariana, Arbok and Vileplume were trapped inside a tornado of fire, keeping them unharmed and immobilized until the flames died out. But Silver had been badly wounded, and was slow to get back on his feet.

"Silver!" Lyra called out to him.

Just then, Celebi's eyes glowed bright white.

The blue vortex smothered the entire clearing under it, trapping everything inside it. For several minutes, the wind howled like mad and drowned out Lyra's yelling, its strength almost tossing her around. The vortex and all of its contents, including the shrine, were slowly lifted into the air and sucked inside the blue sphere in the middle, the bursts of energy making blinding flashes of light as if the forest had been struck by lightning.

Little by little, the wind and the bursts of energy died down as the remnants of the vortex were sucked in, the energy sphere getting smaller and eventually collapsing, leaving just an empty, badly destroyed clearing behind, large chunks of the ground being sucked in as well.

But just before the sphere disappeared, something materialized from it, dropping with a loud thud on the ground. Lyra and Scorch ran to the clearing, noticing that something to be Silver. Though he was conscious even after the drop, his eyes were glazed and wide with horror and he was breathing heavily. Even after Lyra tried to assure him that he was fine, Silver kept staring into the distance, his breathing getting even shallower, as if he didn't even notice Lyra's presence.

Finally, as Lyra pulled Silver closer to herself and hugged him, Silver seemed to realize what was happening and was quick to hug her back, tears dripping down his face and on Lyra's shoulders. Lyra had no idea what had happened, but decided that it wasn't the time to ask, either – no matter how much she wanted to.

"It's all right," Lyra told him softly as he cried against her. "It's over now."

"Mt. Silver," Silver muttered. "Ariana said that her boss was there... we gotta get to Mt. Silver."

"We will," Lyra reassured him. "We'll get there right away."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Route 28, border of Kanto and Johto** _

"How could you be so rough with my baby?!"

"Blaine, um, we need to have a serious discussion with your relationships with inanimate objects..."

"Well, it's inanimate _now,_ after you wrecked it!"

Blaine was currently pacing back and forth and ranting at everyone who would listen after professor Elm had accidentally driven the van into a pothole, the other front tire having completely sunken, with no equipment to lift it. At the moment, Blaine, Elm, Iris and Leaf were stuck in the middle of the wilderness on the route east from Mt. Silver. As Iris stepped out of the car to inspect the damage as well, her attention was drawn to the dust cloud in the horizon.

"Do you guys see that?" she asked.

Blaine was too busy yelling his head off at a nearby tree to hear what Iris said, but Elm took the opportunity to gaze into the horizon. Leaf came out of the van as well and looked at the seemingly growing cloud of dust through her binoculars. For a few seconds, she just stared it – then suddenly dropped the binoculars in shock and pulled a Poké Ball from her bag.

"What is it?" Iris asked her.

"Trouble," Leaf only said and sent out her Rapidash, the Fire Horse Pokémon neighing and briefly getting on its back hooves instinctively upon spotting the approaching cloud of dust.

Picking up the binoculars, Iris could now see what was happening, too. Almost two dozen Abomasnow and Mamoswine were charging recklessly towards them. They had no regard for tactics or their own well-being, they just mindlessly charged towards the group in an effort to overwhelm them. Finally stopping his ranting when no one listened to him, he roughly yanked the binoculars from Iris and confirmed what was happening.

"Pryce really isn't letting this go," Blaine remarked and looked behind him, the peak of Mt. Silver still dominating the landscape. "He's probably still somewhere out here, trying to prevent anyone from leaving the mountain. Well, then..."

Blaine sent out his Magmar. Then, he briefly went back into the crashed, tilted van and rummaged through his belongings for a few seconds, finally locating what he was looking for: his 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun, disassembled, fixed and reassembled after Pryce ruined it. As he started inserting shells into the weapon, he started giving orders to everyone while Iris opened a Poké Ball of her own, sending out Fraxure.

"Elm, do whatever it takes to get the car out of the hole," Blaine instructed and glanced at Iris. "Iris, you and Fraxure help him – let the fire-types handle this. Those things won't last long."

Iris looked at the approaching horde of Pokémon in concern, as they were now clearly visible and almost in the range of their attacks, Leaf's Rapidash starting to dig at the ground nervously with its hoof.

"But-"

"Just do it!" Blaine grunted and cocked his shotgun. "If it gets bad, just leave me and Magmar to fight!"

"Again with the dramatics," Elm sighed, trying to suppress a smile. "Come on, Iris, let's let him have his hero fantasies for a while."

"Hey!"

"Prepare yourselves," Leaf murmured, eyes fixed at the approaching Pokémon. "Here they come..."

But before any of them could call an attack, a tornado of flames suddenly struck the advancing horde of Mamoswine and Abomasnow from an unseen place. The tornado then split up into narrower but even taller pillars of fire that wrapped up around every single one of the Pokémon, the flames spinning around them and lifting the heavy Pokémon off the ground. After spinning and burning in the vortex for almost a minute straight, the flames finally died down, all of the Pokémon collapsing on the ground, unconscious, wounded or otherwise too weak to fight anymore.

The culprit behind the enormous Fire Spin attack soon emerged from the bushes: it was a Ninetales, a fox-like Pokémon covered in luxurious golden-white fur and nine long, thick tails. Its trainer was quick to follow, and Iris couldn't help but to smile at the sight of the scruffy Wes casually greeting the group and strutting their way like he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary.

"Thanks a bunch, Ninetales," Wes praised, patted it on the head and returned the fox Pokémon to its Poké Ball. "Oh, and hi guys," he said calmly. "I was going to come to meet you, but there was this big bunch of Pokémon in the way."

"Yeah, yeah, call me when you've obtained mastery of the fire element," Blaine grumbled. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to help Kris."

Wes' cheerful face turned serious quickly. "I had to come and call you guys back to do that," he said tensely and pointed at Mt. Silver. "She is up there now, most likely fighting ol' Pryce."

"What?!" Elm snapped, stopping his attempt to lift the van together with Fraxure. He was instead glaring at Wes. "You left her there all on her own?"

"Eusine is with her."

" _All on her own_!"

"Yeah, you got me there," Wes muttered. "And she asked me to. Pryce is holding a guy up there as hostage – a guy we can't afford to lose. But I doubt he can do anything if we overwhelm him. He counted on Kris to come there alone – she's still a wannabe hero, after all. Too bad for him that I've long since abandoned that dream."

"Right, we're going!" Elm said surprisingly firmly. "Everyone, come help me with this car – you too, Wes! Maybe we can... can..."

Elm's glasses were falling off his face, but he stopped his struggling with the van and didn't bother to push them up, his eyes widening with terror and becoming fixed on something above them. The others slowly turned to look as well, all of them flinching instinctively.

Mewtwo hovered above them effortlessly, its long, dark purple tail lightly swaying back and forth as it coldly observed the group. Its purple irises where particularly focused on Blaine, who had instinctively raised his shotgun but quickly lowered it when he saw what he was up against. His legs trembled and his knees almost buckled under Mewtwo's relentless glare, but either way, he was able to stare right back at the artificial Pokémon.

"Nobody make a move!" Blaine yelled hoarsely, keeping his eyes set on Mewtwo.

"Blaine!" Iris yelled out, clasping her hand over her mouth. "Y-your arm...

"I know."

Blaine's right arm from his elbow to the tips of his fingers was suddenly twitching and pulsating on its own. Wes recoiled in disgust and exclaimed in surprise upon seeing it. Blaine, however, didn't let it distract him. Even in the face of the splitting pain he felt, he refused to let it cloud his mind at that crucial moment – and he had learned how to endure it better now.

"When I stopped feeling anything, I assumed you had left," Blaine told the Pokémon. "But you teleported back here so quickly... what I want to know is, why did you come back? We sent you to Faraway Island, and only Fuji knows its location. We were sure that you'd get your answers there... or are you here because of them?"

Mewtwo kept glaring at them. Fraxure, Rapidash and Magmar were shivering and backing away despite their eagerness to fight the horde of Pokémon. But Mewtwo made no effort to attack the group, the eery blue glow that surrounded it whenever it used its psychic powers nowhere to be seen.

Blaine snorted. "I can't answer the questions about the miracles of life, if that's what you want. I gave you birth, but everything I did, I based on the notes by Fuji and his son. I can give lectures about nucleotide sequences all you want, but I've given you the tools of figuring all _that_ out yourself if you want to. It's something else that you yearn."

Blaine gritted his teeth together, sweat dropping down his face, the fingers of his corrupted right hand twitching involuntarily. Elm tried to come to his aid, but Blaine held out his hand to stop him, still staring at Mewtwo.

"You've got a body that candle it better than mine, but I know your arm aches too whenever you come near me," Blaine grunted, his whole body shaking. "And you must want to know why. Maybe that's the reason you spared my life before you fled the lab..."

_"Don't you remember me?" Blaine asked as he felt Mewtwo tightening its grip. "I seem to have… taught you well…"_

_Blaine had to close his eyes now – he couldn't even draw breath._

_"Go on then," he wheezed. "Do it. I deserve it…"_

_But then he felt like he could breathe again – the invisible chains were gone, and Blaine was dropped on the ground, with all the air knocked out of him in the process. As he struggled to breathe, he turned to his side and tried to catch a glimpse of Mewtwo… but there was only smoke._

"Why was so I arrogant as to experiment with my own DNA, you ask?" Blaine continued relentlessly. "We needed additional data due to the little we had of the Mew fossil, and we humans are closer to you Pokémon than you'd think. Of course, it could have been from any other human or Pokémon when it comes down to it, yet I chose mine... for the same reason I stayed by your side every day from your birth to your escape, the same reason I read to you about this world and educated you about Pokémon. But once, you had a psychic outburst you couldn't control... the tank you were in was broken and I was sure you'd die, you were bleeding so badly... as some of your blood got on my arm, well, the results are clear."

Blaine removed his glove and tore off the sleeve of his lab coat and the shirt underneath, revealing the full extent of the damage, his arm looking more like a partially melted, purple candle than a limb. Wes almost vomited at the sight and keeled over, Iris catching him before he fainted.

"The only way we can both get rid of this feeling is if you kill us both!" Blaine told Mewtwo.

"Blaine!" Elm yelled.

"But as much as I regret everything that happened," Blaine continued, "I still am proud of my research – proud of you! I wanted you to feel the same way about me. Call that arrogance or whatever, but... I only wanted you to have a good life!"

Blaine and Mewtwo continued to stare at each other. Finally, Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue and it raised its three-fingered hand at Blaine, who bowed his head, about to accept his fate.

The suspected blow never came, however. As Blaine carefully raised his head and opened his other eye, he couldn't see Mewtwo anywhere. Not only that, but his arm was returning to normal, the splitting pain having changed to aching and minor throbbing.

Exhaling deep, Blaine started swaying and almost collapsed, but Elm managed to catch him just in time. Blaine's sunglasses were about to fall off his face, but he regained motor control quickly enough to push them back.

"I think," Blaine panted, weakly getting back on his feet, "that Wes is right. We have to get to Mt. Silver, as soon as possible."

"I might be able to help you with that," said an unknown male voice, everyone turning to look at the source of it.

**~o~O~o¨**

**Location: _Mt. Silver summit, Johto_**

Kris ran her way through the maze of trees at the summit, zipping past the trees in complex patterns, desperately hoping to lose her pursuer. She hugged the crossbow she hefted around, it being her only protection when surrounded by nothing but trees and rocks. But no matter where she ran, the Masked Man stuck closely behind, not even bothering to run, occasionally freezing and shattering a tree out of his way. As he taunted Kris, his voice boomed all over the summit no matter how far away he was:

" _I just don't get why humans insist on digging themselves deeper_ ," he rambled on as he lazily gave chase to Kris. " _If you had just stopped and listened, this little game of tag could have been avoided._ _If you'd just have stayed at your little hole in the middle of nowhere, you wouldn't even be here._ "

Kris forced herself to run faster, even when her legs were sinking in the deep snow and her heavy breathing and struggling could probably be heard all over the place.

" _But then,_ _nobody forced you to come here, either. I knew you would have, eventually, but I could never understand why. You sought to become some kind of 'hero' and save a person, but instead you got both him_ and _your buddy killed!_ _Did you honestly believe completing all of your little trials would make you one?! There are no heroes in this world, and if there were,_ you _wouldn't count among them._ _Do you want to know why_?"

Hoping there was enough distance between them, Kris hid behind a large pine and started to frantically dig her way into the snow.

" _You're trash. And the world will never accept you, or respect you, or listen to you._ _You must have figured this out you_ _r_ _self, and yet you still grind on._ _If you want to_ _get_ anywhere _in this world, you're either born with the power, or you take it, like me._ _Because the world_ _is cold, and it_ _doesn't care about you, me or anyone unless you_ make it _care._ "

Kris put all her focus on her frenzied digging, trying to hide her pathetic sobs of fear, hoping she could perhaps cover herself with snow until the situation cleared.

" _You're it_."

Kris turned to look behind her – there was only a few feet worth of distance between the Masked Man and her. Kris haphazardly raised her crossbow with one hand, but Pryce fired an Ice Beam directly at her arm.

Kris was slammed against the tree and dropped the crossbow, her arm pinned on the tree with a thick block of solid ice. Kris tried to desperately pull herself out, wriggle her way free, attempt to melt the ice off with her body temperature, anything, but her struggle was useless. The Masked Man approached Kris until his shadow covered her entirely, allowing him to look down on her, the face on the mask having never looked more like a sadistic sneer.

" _Don't be so sad_ ," the Masked Man said. " _I brought these for you_."

With a grand gesture, the Masked Man pulled four frozen Poké Balls from his cloak, letting them drop on the ground like rocks, all falling just out of Kris' reach.

" _I'm going to speak in a way even you can understand._ _Tell me where the GS Ball is, or tell me how to find Leaf._ _Fail to do so, and your Pokémon will be destroyed._ "

Kris quickly wiped her eyes on her sleeve and stared back at the mask that smirked at him. He may have gotten her, but there was no way she'd spend her last moments crying for help. Though shuddering, Kris still managed to look at the Masked Man straight in the 'eye' as she replied.

"No," she said as firmly as she could. "That threat is not going to work – you know as well as I do that if you crack open those Poké Balls, the Pokémon will just break free!"

The Masked Man stopped to just stare at Kris. She had no idea whether that was true or not – she had never heard of a Poké Ball being destroyed with the Pokémon still inside. Using the silence to her advantage, Kris pressed on, trying to distract Pryce for even a split second... if Kris could just shatter through the ice and hit the buttons on even one of the Poké Balls...

"Why do you want that thing so badly?" Kris asked. "What's the GS Ball about? I know you used it to capture something powerful, but what is it? Mewtwo?"

The Masked Man scoffed. " _I don't need a Poké Ball to control_ that _thing! The ultimate Pokémon that I seek holds the key to controlling time itself. Think how the pathetic race of humanity is trapped by the limitations of time, constantly controlled by forces they can't even comprehend? Imagine being able to go back to fix every mistake you've made,_ _to be able to arrange every minute detail of your life to make it sure you'd come out as the winner_!"

Kris stared at the Masked Man. Was he telling the truth? Kris had never heard of a time-traveling Pokémon or time-travel in general except for sci-fi novels and movies. Yet he had sounded serious when he had said that, and had pursued that thing for weeks on end.

Weary of Kris' silence, the Masked Man stepped aside and pointed at something to Kris' left. Looking at that direction, she realized she had wondered through the thickets in such a hurry that she had come almost full circle, the frozen Croc being stuck in the same place not too far away, its hand still moving around, attempting to claw into its icy prison. The entrance to the cave where the frozen Red was also visible.

" _You don't have a prayer,_ " the Masked Man said slightly. " _Even if your lunkheaded Feraligatr_ _somehow_ _gets out, I can easily re-freeze it in a second._ _I will not ask again – your Pokémon will suffer if you don't answer my question_."

Kris stared back, noting that she was losing feeling of the fingers in her right hand, the icy constraints in her arm hurting even through Kris' thick jacket.

"They're not afraid of you," Kris said. "You'll have to do better than that to scare me."

" _My, my, how cold of you – if you'll excuse me for saying._ _You truly don't care about them. I'm impressed – I would have taken you for someone far easier to manipulate. Very well then. If that's the type of person you are..._ "

The Masked Man thrust his arm forward, an icy spear suddenly materializing from his wrist and growing until its sharp tip was only half an inch from Kris' neck, making her stop her struggling and stare at the spear, eyes widened. It was just like the one he had used to stab Eusine.

" _You'll stop at nothing to save yourself_ ," the Masked Man finished.

"Y-you," Kris stuttered, afraid to move anywhere, feeling the ice scrape her neck slightly, forcing her to move against the tree as flat as she could. "You couldn't... you could have killed me many times already, you c-can't..."

" _I can and I will_ ," the Masked Man said. " _Do you honestly think you're special? Even if my suspicions are true, I have three people like you as my obedient servants and there are probably a hundred others all over Kanto and Johto._ _The only thing keeping you alive right now is your fortuitous friendship with my precious little pets, Leaf and Silver. I know one of them took the GS Ball, and I know you know where_ _they took it. The choice is clear: your friends' lives, or yours_."

Kris tried to hold back her tears and sniffed, feeling the ice spear's tip break her skin, causing blood to drip down her neck slightly. Until now, she had trusted that as long as she kept herself out of harm, nothing would come to anyone else either. She had been certain that the Masked Man wanted her alive. But now, at this very moment...

Kris glanced to her left, wishing she could do something to help Croc, her eyes getting damp again as she watched it struggle against its bonds, refusing to give up...

Croc was struggling surprisingly hard considering how it had been supposedly frozen completely.

Kris quickly shifted her eyes back at the Masked Man, who hadn't taken his eyes off Kris. He wouldn't hesitate to stab, and all it took was for the Masked Man to move a few inches forward to get the spear through her neck.

Closing her eyes, Kris sighed. "You're right."

" _You've made the right choice. You can always tell_ _whoever survives_ _that I made you do it – maybe one day you'll learn to live with the guilt of letting your friends be-_ "

"You were right before," Kris muttered. "Right that the world doesn't care about me. Right that I have to make it do that. And if that means having to die to make sure someone like you doesn't hurt anyone else..."

Kris opened her eyes and glared at the Masked Man.

"...then so be it!"

" _You'd throw your life away? Pathetic!_ _You'll never be remembered as anything more than a frozen corpse covered by snowfall on this pathetic place in the middle of nowhere!_ "

"It's not about being remembered – it's about stopping you... _Pryce_ ," Kris continued. "Only trouble is, even if the world may not care... there are people who do. And they'd never forgive me if I got killed here. Especially not CROC!"

The ice around Croc's head had melted, allowing it to give off a mighty roar and break out of the icy prison it was encased in. As the Masked Man looked at it, Kris kicked at the frozen Poké Balls, managing to make them fly at another tree, breaking the ice surrounding their buttons and allowing Chandelure, Honchkrow, Shuckie and Shrew to break out, Chandelure immediately roasting Pryce with a Flamethrower.

The Masked Man had to leap out of the way, his spear melting in the heat. The heat also melted off Kris' shackles, allowing her to tear her arm free with one try, though the feeling from her right arm was still gone. The Masked Man raised his arm and tried to fire an Ice Beam at Kris, but Kris rolled away and grabbed her crossbow, aiming and firing with her left hand. Even if the bolt missed, the Masked Man was preoccupied by Chandelure and Honchkrow attacking with simultaneous Shadow Ball attacks.

When Croc had gotten fully free, it started charging at Pryce, roaring at him, a murderous glare in its eyes. Kris, who tried to rub the frozen spot of her right arm with her left hand, could feel the ground vibrating as Croc stomped towards her at reckless speed.

"Everyone, stand down and let Croc handle this one!" Kris warned.

Especially with both Honchkow and Shrew weak to ice, the other Pokémon were better off watching from the sidelines as Croc charged at the Masked Man, who tried to fight back with another ice spear.

"Croc, Waterfall!" Kris commanded.

To Kris' bewilderment, Croc did as ordered without a hesitation, causing a mass of water to rise off the ground below Croc's feet, then letting both the watefall and the Pokémon itself crash down on Pryce.

"Now Crunch at his weapon!" Kris ordered.

Just as the Masked Man tried to stab Croc with his spear, Croc grabbed his arm and bit through it, shattering the spear into pieces. But Kris could see sizzling blue energy gather in Pryce's other hand.

"Croc, dodge!"

Even with its massive size, Croc leaped out of the way nimbly, Pryce's Ice Beam missing and hitting a nearby tree instead. Kris raised her crossbow again and fired it straight at the Masked Man's head.

For once, he didn't have time to block, the crossbow bolt hitting his mask, causing it to crack visibly just above his eye. Kris had never seen the mask crack before, but as the Masked Man tried to pull the bolt out, Kris had an idea.

"Croc!" she yelled. "Gather all your energy into a Superpower attack and _punch that bastard_!"

Croc nodded and raised its fist. Instead of its whole body, its right fist glowed blue as it roared and punched the Masked Man straight in the face, shattering his mask into pieces and eliciting the first cry of pain from him that Kris had ever heard.

With the shards of the light blue mask falling on the ground, his thick white hair and black cloak evaporated as well. All that was left was a white-haired old man falling to his knees, holding his face, that was bleeding from multiple spots. He was barefoot and shirtless, only wearing black pants. Even giving his age, he was surprisingly muscular and seemingly not bothered by the cold air and snow. On his rather broad chest, Kris noticed Pryce was wearing a necklace, something she hadn't noticed before.

Before Pryce could do anything, Croc pinned him down on the snow, Pryce letting out a pained grunt. As Kris walked over to him, she tried to think of something that would best summarize what she felt now. The man who lay at her feet had done despicable things, and yet without his mask, all that remained was an ordinary human. Kris would never understand what made the seemingly friendly and respected gym leader walk such a path.

Nor did she intend on finding out. Pryce would get no pity from Kris. He would have to pay, for everything he did to her, to the children he kidnapped, to Eusine, and to...

"Crap!" Kris said suddenly. "Excellent work, Croc – hold him there! Good work with you, too," Kris told the rest of her Pokémon, who chirped and grunted their miscellaneous noises at her. "Chandelure, Shrew, come with me, I still need your help!"

Kris picked up Shrew in her arms so it wouldn't have to crawl through the snow and dashed into the tunnel, Chandelure floating after her. As she arrived to the frozen shape of the former Kanto Champion, she let Shrew on the ground, causing the ground-type to instantly start sniffing it from all sides. Kris glanced at Chandelure.

"I know you can't exactly answer me, but... is there anything we can do to him?" she asked the ghost-type. "Like, I'm not telling you to use Flamethrower on him, but if you just float next to him, will he melt? Can he even be alive after being frozen so long, or is it like a cryogenic thing? Or, I dunno, maybe Shrew can scrape the ice off him and-"

But Shrew interrupted with Kris from loud squeaks, having crawled to the other side of the frozen champ. As Kris and Chandelure followed, Kris couldn't help but to gasp, realizing what the Sandshrew had meant.

Upon returning to Pryce, who lay helplessly under Croc's muscular arms, Kris had a few choice words to offer to him:

" _What the hell_?!" she yelled, causing Pryce to reluctantly lift his bloodstained head. "That's not Red!"

Pryce spat blood off his mouth. "What are you talking about?!"

"I mean, at least not anymore!" Kris yelled. "There's a huge hole on the back of it! How long has he been gone?!"

Pryce's mouth opened slowly as he seemed to realize what Kris was talking about, but didn't have any answers to offer. Kris held up a black fingerless glove she had found from the cave's floor and dangled it above Pryce.

"This was all that we found!" Kris said. "This and some pieces of fabric probably torn off his jacket or shirt or something. Are you telling me he was never here?!"

"That son of a..." Pryce grumbled to himself. "There's no way he could have..."

Kris gauged Pryce's reaction. He had no reason to lie now, and it was not like he could have kept up a charade like that for long. And not even the world's best ice sculptor could have made that thing look so... lifelike. Red had been inside it, that was a fact. Kris moved her attention to the glove, the only thing he had left behind. Kris wondered why Red hadn't sought out his friends if he had gotten out, or why no one had heard anything of him.

Slowly, as if it was a holy object or something, Kris put the glove on her hand. Even though it was wet and most likely dirty, Kris nonetheless felt something as she wore the glove, like a spark that seemed to tell her that he was still out there. With that, Kris knew what her next objective would be.

But first, the matter at hand.

"Well, I guess you failed extra-hard today," Kris gloated at Pryce, watching him squirm in Croc's grip. "We'll put you up in a neat little package and bring you to the International Police down at the stadium. Or maybe we'll make Leaf and Silver exact their revenge on you. Or perhaps we should bring you to the hospital beds of all those people who you hurt at the Silver Conference. Or maybe..."

Pryce interrupted Kris' ramblings with a raspy, pained laughter. Kris scowled at him.

"Sorry," Pryce growled, smirking at Kris, "but did you think I'd just tell you my location and fight you myself without a backup plan? Please. You're talking to the man behind the Navel Rock massacre here. And all I have to do to put that plan into motion is say the word. There's still one way you can stop me... if you've got the guts."

Kris and Pryce stared at each other, Kris clenching her fists. Pryce was right again – there was a way she could make him harmless for good. She wouldn't even have to get her hands dirty, as Croc looked very eager to chomp his head off. And not only was he a man with so much death and suffering to his name, he actually _gloated_ about it. All Kris had to do was say the word as well...

...but she couldn't. Kris just glared down on Pryce, who smiled even wider.

"I thought so," Pryce chuckled. "Mewtwo! Come forth!"

And just like that, the Pokémon arrived, literally falling out of the sky and landing on the snow with a powerful thud, snow melting around its feet. This was the third time Kris was face to face with the powerful super-Pokémon, only even closer than last time. Even with all the Pokémon at her disposal, all Kris could do last time was distract Mewtwo. Staring into its cold, purple eyes, Kris wondered what her chances would be this time. On one hand, she was much more powerful than before, but on the other hand, there was no cover and no place to run to, and all Mewtwo had to do was lift its finger and it would be all over.

Croc growled at the new arrival, allowing Pryce to wriggle free and elbow the Feraligatr, scrambling to his feet and running to the sidelines, leaving Kris, Croc and the rest of Kris' Pokémon facing Mewtwo. Shrew, Chandelure, Honchkrow and Shuckie all gathered around Kris, shielding her to the best of their ability and staring Mewtwo down.

"That's it, Mewtwo!" Pryce encouraged. "Blow them all to smithereens!"

Mewtwo lifted its hand, Croc snapping its jaws at the Pokémon in turn and roaring, fearlessly stepping forward and standing between Mewtwo and Kris and the other Pokémon.

"Who cares if that thing is on your way?!" Pryce shouted. "Blow it up! Blow them all up!"

Slowly, Mewtwo aimed at Croc, pushing its three fingers together... then, closing its eyes and letting its arm drop to its side. Pryce stared at it in shock.

"But... I'm giving you an order, Mewtwo!" he screamed. "I am your master!"

" _No_."

Kris looked wildly around her, wondering where the deep, echoing voice came from, her other Pokémon doing the same. It took a while for Kris to realize the source of the voice stood right before her.

"Y-you can talk?" Kris asked Mewtwo.

" _I can use my psychic powers to transform the thoughts I wish to convey into sound waves – I prefer not to vocalize directly_. _And, I admit, it's more dramatic this way_."

Kris almost laughed. "You... you're not going to-?"

" _No_ ," Mewtwo said again. " _I have read the mind of your Feraligatr,_ _along with the rest of your Pokémon. All of them, especially the Sandshrew, have great respect for their trainer._ _But even if they didn't, I wouldn't do it_."

"What are you talking about?!" Pryce yelled. "You're supposed to obey my commands!"

" _You never believed that, human_ ," Mewtwo snapped at Pryce coldly. " _You wouldn't have sent your lackeys to my resting place at the Ruins of Alph otherwise_."

"I'm..." Kris gulped. "I'm sorry I captured you... I though you were going to kill-"

" _I would very much like to. Even now, I can't quite fathom why I'm helping a human_ ," Mewtwo said harshly. " _But even the pinnacle of your scientific achievements could only contain me temporarily. While I was inside the capsule, I remained aware and heard everything._ _You re_ _sisted_ _the_ _temptations of the_ _one_ _who would enslave m_ _e and fought this human's henchmen, risking your life in the process. And you had Pokémon willing to do the same for you_. _I can safely say that during my life, I have met at least one human worthy of my respect... no, better yet, two humans_. _The one who I first laid eyes on after my birth_..."

"You mean Blaine?" Kris asked.

Mewtwo didn't answer, but instead glared at Pryce again, the old man's body shivering, not due to cold, but barely contained rage.

" _Which means_ ," Mewtwo said, " _those who attempted to call themselves my master have lied to me_."

"How did he do that?" Kris wondered. "Even with that mask, he couldn't have been as powerful as-"

" _Not him_ ," Mewtwo said. " _The ones he serves. Or served_."

Mewtwo lifted its arm again, pointing at Pryce. Kris cringed, certain that she would see Pryce's head exploding next, but instead, Mewtwo used its psychic powers to yank the old-looking metal necklace away from Pryce.

The moment the necklace left Pryce's neck, Pryce collapsed on his knees again and started freaking out. Muttering to himself, eyes wide with terror, he scrambled around in the snow, trying to find where the necklace had dropped. He tried digging into the snow with both of his hands, his whole body shaking, his terrified mutterings becoming louder and more incoherent.

" _You wonder why I didn't kill him_?" Mewtwo asked Kris, who watched Pryce's odd behavior in confusion. " _He deserves a more fitting punishment._ _He staked the very essence of his being to serve the beast of the Distortion World, but his greed knew no boundaries. Learning of the powers he was dealing with, he attempted to_ _get it to himself instead,_ _eventually finding a way to escape the clause of his 'contract' – temporarily_."

As Pryce started pounding at the ground in distress, failing to find the necklace, something odd happened. It was a phenomenon Kris had never seen before: a burst of blue electricity erupted in the air directly above Pryce, followed by a purple vortex forming from the electricity, growing until it was big enough to suck a grown man inside it.

Looking up at the vortex, Pryce's anguished face turned to that of resignation. Hanging his head, he glowered up at Kris and Mewtwo from beneath his eyebrows, retaining the same look on his face even when he was forcibly lifted into the air and sucked into the vortex. The moment Pryce was in, the vortex started to calm down and shrink, and a few seconds later, it disappeared with a bright flash of light.

Kris' mouth hung open as she stared at where the vortex had been, weakly pointing at it as she turned to look at Mewtwo.

"What... was...?"

" _Gateway to the Distortion World_ ," Mewtwo said. " _Four years ago,_ _a very powerful being that lives there contacted me. It promised me a part in its plan, a position as general of its army that would take over this world from humans on the 'promised day'._ _But I ended up being nothing more than an errand boy to that human, Pryce, who planned to use me for his own ends._ _Only af_ _ter you stopped that Giovanni human from getting his hands on me, I_ _realized that I had been used once again... I might as well have stayed as nothing more than a laboratory experiment._ "

Kris couldn't exactly comprehend the situation, but either way, a wave of relief surged through her entire body, allowing her to breathe easy again. Pryce was gone and the scary Pokémon capable of killing her with a thought turned out to be... well, maybe not friendly, but not hostile, at least.

"So... what's next for you?" Kris asked carefully.

Mewtwo glanced at Kris, almost as if it was surprised to hear the question. It seemed to contemplate itself for a while.

" _I'm not entirely sure_ ," Mewtwo admitted. " _A part of me still wants to get even with your species, especially the one who brought me into this world_."

Kris tensed up.

" _But I won't_ ," Mewtwo said, and Kris exhaled. " _It's not what she would have wanted_."

She? Kris wasn't sure who it meant – it didn't sound like Mewtwo even knew any other humans besides the ones already mentioned.

" _I already have the blood of about a dozen humans on my hands_ ," Mewtwo admitted bluntly. " _I don't need to add to it anymore._ _Maybe I'll keep on trying to find out things about this world._ _Maybe I'll find a way to live by. When I was in the tank, Blaine told me that some of you humans worship a deity Pokémon called Arceus. Whoever_ _T_ _hey are and if_ _They_ _really are out there... I wouldn't want to upset them by causing more violence. And there might still be Pokémon out there in the same situation as me. I want to help them_."

Mewtwo looked at the sky.

" _One thing is for sure – it would be wise for you to stay out of my doings. I doubt we'll ever meet again_."

Kris nodded. "I mean, that's too bad, but I won't disturb you. I hope other humans won't do that either, and... good luck with your efforts."

Mewtwo bowed its head a little, as if it was trying to return the nodding gesture. " _As a last effort to repay my debt to you_ -"

"Oh, uh, you don't have to bother!" Kris said nervously.

" _Don't misunderstand. The affairs of you humans don't hold any particular interest to me. I wish to live like a Pokémon instead. But_ _since my creator told me that both humans and Pokémon find happiness by bonding with others..."_

Mewtwo snapped its large, thick fingers, causing a human being to materialize on the snow next to Kris.

Kris knelt by the man immediately, recognizing the slick brown hair and fragments of a purple suit he wore. It was Eusine, most of his suit torn away, the wound that Pryce had caused haphazardly bandaged with his cape. Best of all, though his eyes were closed, his chest was rising and dropping slightly with the tune of his breath.

" _The white garment is only a hindrance to him, so I fashioned a tourniquet from it based on the skills my creator taught me_ ," Mewtwo explained. " _He's still alive, but I know more about destroying things than fixing them – I urge you to find real medical help soon_."

"Thank you!" Kris muttered as she grabbed Eusine's hand, tears welling up in her eyes again. "Just... thank you, I-"

But Mewtwo was gone. Kris focused on Eusine instead, her Pokémon gathering around her.

"Honchkrow!" Kris told her flying-type. "I know this is a lot to ask, but can you fly him down the mountain as soon as possible? Just, go to the stadium and drop him there, people will help him, I'm sure. Me and the others will follow and-"

"Hhh..."

As Eusine groaned slightly, Kris stopped talking to her Pokémon and turned to Eusine instead, trying to shake him awake like it was just the morning after a late night at the bar.

"Eusine!" Kris cried. "Eusine, are you awake? Just... save your strength, we're going to take you-"

"...don't bother for me," Eusine rasped, his eyes still closed.

"What?! Eusine, you lost a lot of blood, you're not-"

"I know I did, I woke up in a frickin' pool of it back there," Eusine mumbled. "And then I think a humongous cat took off my clothes..."

Eusine opened his eyes just slightly to look at Kris.

"Pryce..." Eusine whispered. "That asshole... where is he? Did he hurt you?"

Kris brushed the slight prick on her neck with her hand, wiping the blood off as she shook her head.

"It's nothing," she said tearfully. "Pryce is gone. We beat him."

Eusine let out a pained chuckle, followed by loud coughing.

"I expected no less," he mumbled. "You... you really are worth Suicune's respect..."

"Just lay still!" Kris snapped. "Croc, help lift Eusine on Honchkrow's back-"

"You're gonna break the poor bird," Eusine interrupted, "and something tells me I'm not gonna live through the rough ride down there... that something being the fact that you can see through my chest..."

"Don't run your mouth, you idiot," Kris said and sniffed, wiping her bloodshot eyes on her sleeve again.

Eusine frowned. "You can't start blubbering now," he said weakly. "What if Suicune were here to see?" A faint smile appeared on his lips. "...you crying because of me?"

"Yes, dumbass!" Kris snapped, the yelling causing snot to run down her nose. "Damn it, look at what you made me do."

"No one has done that to me before," Eusine muttered. "It's not exactly like in the movies... but at least I really got to go out in style like I hoped..."

"Don't say that!" Kris yelled.

"...just let me talk, please," Eusine grunted and winced in pain. "Would the hero who saved the Kanto champion deny a man his last words?"

Kris didn't have the heart to tell him the truth. She knew she could do it some other time. No one was allowed to die because of her actions. If Eusine would die on her watch, she was going to kill him.

"...no surprise there's no one here to mourn over the loss of the great Eusine," he continued. "Laying there bleeding gave me time to think and review my life... didn't much care for it, two out of five, two and a half max. I really was a conceited jackass... I don't even think I deserve to die on the arms of a pretty girl..."

Kris shook her head. "You're not going to die, didn't I tell you?!"

Eusine smiled "...much as I'd like that, it's not your choice, Kris," he groaned. "I can already hear the rattling of the flames... either that or the heavenly choir is badly out of tune..."

"What?"

"...don't you hear that?"

Kris heard it just then. The sound of something buzzing getting increasingly closer, like a gigantic insect heading her way. Looking up at the sky, Kris saw two helicopters approach the mountain, and following suit were about a dozen large bird Pokémon, mainly Fearow and Pidgeot.

The other helicopter was white and marked with a red cross. The moment it landed, two medics rushed out of the chopper with a stretcher. Kris started to immediately motion towards them, holding Eusine's hand all the way as the medics ran over to her and lifted the half-conscious Eusine on the stretcher. Without saying a word to Kris, they carried him back into the copter. The last Kris saw of Eusine was him weakly attempting to reach out to Kris before he was out of sight.

Kris and her Pokémon were quickly swarmed by men wearing dark suits in sunglasses, carrying peculiar energy weapons with them. They didn't seem to mind Kris, but instead checked the whole summit for clues, a few of them rushing into the tunnel where the Red-statue was.

A Mandibuzz then landed directly next to Kris, carrying with it a man who couldn't be more than three or four years older than Kris who also wore a suit, but different from the others. His jacket was blue instead of black, he didn't have sunglasses and instead of a buzz cut, he had long, chin-length black hair.

"Calm down, miss," he said casually as he hopped off his Mandibuzz. "We're here to secure the area. Agent Cheren from Unova, pleased to meet you."

"Um," Kris could only answer as she was suddenly pulled into an enthusiastic handshake with this 'Cheren'.

"Tell you Pokémon to stand down, too," Cheren said quickly as he let go of Kris and nodded at Croc, who was growling at him. "We're here to help. As soon as we saw what was happening at the Silver Conference back home, a unit was mobilized to assist you. Where's Pryce?"

Kris scratched her head awkwardly. "Uh, he's... I don't know if you believe this, but-"

"Sucked into a portal?" Cheren asked immediately and nodded. "Yes, makes sense, we did get some resonance readings from here. Hah, what a guy! He really thought even interdimensional forces couldn't stop him."

Kris frowned. "Just what are you exactly-"

"Hold that though, please, miss," Cheren said and turned to look at the tunnel. "Hey, boys, found anything?"

"Just what we're looking for, sir," an agent replied.

He and another agent were carrying the frozen Red statue away, letting two bird Pokémon carry it away with the help of some thick rope. Kris stared at the process, but Cheren waved his hand and smiled reassuringly.

"Thanks for all your help," he said and patted Kris on the shoulder. "We promise to get your buddy fixed up."

"Yeah, thanks," Kris muttered. "What are you doing with the-"

"Oh, yeah, the Champion," Cheren said – Kris was getting pretty sick of him interrupting her, but what annoyed her more that he seemed to know what she was thinking every time. "He's almost as famous in Unova he is here, and we want to find him. Being encased in ice for a year couldn't have been good for him, and the people need their hero. You can count on us, miss... what was your name again?"

"Kris," she replied. "I still don't-"

"Thanks for the help, Kris!" Cheren said jovially and hopped on his Mandibuzz. "Oh, your friends probably want to say something – we took the liberty of bringing them here as well."

Cheren hopped on his Mandibuzz, gave the order to leave to his fellow agents and flew back into the sky. Kris didn't spare too many thoughts for him, now, though, when she noticed the people who had stepped out of the other helicopter: there were Iris, professor Elm, Blaine and Leaf, also joined by Lyra and Silver, who had flown there with Lyra's Braviary.

A few agents remained to sweep the area, but eventually left as well, allowing Iris and the others to get Kris up to speed about everything. Iris told Kris about Mewtwo and what Blaine had said to it, as well as about Wes' great Fire Spin, something Wes had insisted Iris mention. Wes himself was nowhere to be seen, though, even though he had apparently accompanied Iris and the others in the helicopter. Iris had also been told by Lyra about Celebi and what had happened in Ilex Forest, and Iris relayed the info to Kris. In return, Kris told Iris everything that had happened on Mt. Silver.

After some quick exchanges, the groups split up to talk among each other. Elm was inspecting Blaine's right arm that a doctor who had come with the agents had bandaged. She didn't exactly recognize what was going on with Blaine's arm, but could at least tell it was a type of infection and prescribed antibiotics. Blaine had been very reluctant to let an outsider look at his arm, but Elm had forced him to do it. Blaine was grateful that he did – even if he would never say it.

"You're going to return to your gym?" Elm asked Blaine.

Blaine grunted and nodded. "What's left of it – having it on the Seafoam Islands just isn't the same."

"One would almost wonder why they bothered building a town that close to an active volcano," Elm mused.

Blaine chuckled. "What about you?"

Elm shrugged. "Keep doing my job, I suppose – though it's gonna be hard after all these adventures. Still, with the egg I got and everything I've learned, not to mention all that data that Kris, Iris, Leaf and Lyra have brought in... I don't think I'll be bored."

"I'd like to find out who those bastards who took the only remaining evidence of Red with them were, though," Blaine grumbled.

"Um, you know, those 'bastards' did help us get here."

"Doesn't mean I have to like them."

Blaine patted Elm on the shoulder roughly.

"Look after yourself, you old pencilneck, you," he grunted. "Get some fresh air once in a while. We'll have to do this again some time."

"Maybe not _this_ exactly," Elm said and winced as he rubbed his shoulders. "But yeah... we'll see each other soon."

A little further away from the others, Leaf and Silver were leaning against a tree, staring in the opposite directions, Silver with his hands in his pockets and gazing at the ground quietly while Leaf had her arms crossed and whistled to fill the awkward silence.

"So," she said.

No answer.

"Pryce got sucked into hell, huh?" Leaf laughed. "I didn't even believe in one 'till now, yet I still kinda hoped he'd at least burn in some equivalent of one."

Still no answer.

"So I suppose it's over, huh?" Leaf said. "Or..."

Silver shook his head quietly.

"Figures," Leaf said. "Say... you seemed pretty chummy with that Lyra girl. Think you're gonna see her again?"

"What?!" Silver snapped suddenly and turned to glare at Leaf. "What do you...? I mean, I never-"

Leaf laughed even more, and Silver turned away again, blushing slightly.

"You're evil," he grumbled.

Leaf nudged Silver with her elbow. "Still, you didn't answer my question," she reminded.

Silver's lip twitched. "Maybe," he said quietly. "But I think we have more important things to do."

"'We'?"

"Yes, as in you and me," Silver said seriously. "When I was trapped in that vortex, I thought that was going to be it. I thought I'd die, or be trapped in some time warp or whatever... but I think Celebi did that deliberately. Because when the vortex engulfed me, it... I saw something terrible."

"Painful memories?" Leaf asked quietly.

Silver nodded. "But not just that," he added. "Something even worse. I was forced to... forced to see all the terrible things I did. All those crimes we committed in Pryce's name. All that stealing, robbing and destruction I did afterward. The Pokémon I stole. The Pokémon I abandoned. When I hurt Kris..."

"I think she'll forgive you for that," Leaf pointed out.

"That's not the point," Silver insisted. "I still did it. And all those other things. It's going to be a rough lifetime trying to make up for what I did. But - I don't even know how."

"Leave that to me," Leaf said cheerfully, prompting Silver to look at her. "Based on what Kris told me, Pryce wasn't just abducting children randomly. He sought us out, waiting for a perfect time and place to do it. We know two and seven were Pryce's henchmen, but that still leaves seven others for us to find and help. All these years, I've kinda felt guilty for abandoning them... I want to make sure they're at least living happily."

"You really think we can find all of them?" Silver said cynically. "They could be on the other side of the world for all we know."

"Didn't you just say you were willing to invest a lifetime for this?" Leaf asked slyly. "I know I'd rather get back to my studies, but... if it takes that, then I'm willing to at least try. And I already think I've got a lead. What do you say?"

Silver stared at the sky and thought about the answer. He wanted to do it, definitely, and a chance to atone wasn't something he was going to pass. And the best part of it was that he wasn't going alone. Still, like Leaf, he had something else on his chest as well.

"If I help you," Silver muttered, "will you also help me do one thing while we track down those other kids?"

Leaf smiled. "Anything," she promised.

"I... I know my mother is dead, but in that vortex, I had a brief memory of my dad. I know he might still be around somewhere. It probably sounds stupid-"

"It doesn't," Leaf said immediately. "And yes, I'll help you find him. I promise."

Finally, in the tunnel where the Red statue had been, Kris and Iris were sitting, having just finished exchanging stories to each other. Kris was now staring at the glove that seemingly belonged to Red.

"You're sure?" Iris asked.

"No, but I'm still doing it," Kris sighed. "I have no idea where Suicune went to, nor am I going to spend half my life running around like a Eusine looking for it."

"I hope he'll recover," Iris muttered.

Kris smiled. "It feels weird to say this, but so do I. Though speaking of douchebags... what was it that Wes told you?"

Iris slapped her forehead. "Yeah, right!"

Iris pulled a pile of papers clumsily bundled with a string and shoved it to Kris' lap, smiling cheerfully.

"This was what Wes was talking about," she said, wrapping her arms around her legs and leaning on her knees. "The so-called 'prophecy', which, Wes said, in his own words 'is probably a bunch o' codswallop'. Problem is, I have no idea what kind of language or writing system that is."

"There were similar engravings at the Ruins of Alph," Kris reminisced. "Next to the Unown symbols, remember?"

"Yeah..." Iris said slowly. "But are you saying we should ask the scientists there? Because I didn't recognize them there, either."

"We just gotta find someone who can read them," Kris muttered. "I wonder if professor Elm..."

"Actually," Iris said, finger raised and preparing to show off her knowledge, "there was a professor from the University of Slateport in Hoenn guest lecturing Opelucid once. She talked about weird, undecipherable writing popping up all over the region recently."

"Hoenn," Kris remarked. "Pretty far from here, isn't it? But then again... did Wes tell anything about what it says there?"

"Well, he only knows what Red's friend had told him," Iris explained. "Something about Red, not by name, obviously, but it _could_ be about him. And someone who would 'succeed' him and save him from a 'fate worse than death'."

"And isn't that what I was going to do?" Kris boasted. "So it _could_ relate to me as well!"

"That's kind of reaching it, isn't it?" Iris asked gently. "I mean, sure, there's a _possibility_ , but you didn't actually save him here, did you?"

"Well, maybe it's one of those self-fulfilling things!" Kris argued. "Like, if I save him eventually, it will be about me!"

Kris didn't wait for Iris to debunk this theory as well. For now, she wanted to feel the rush of having a set goal in mind. For now, she would even ignore the fact that she had no money, not much skills and no knowledge about Hoenn. One way or another, she would get there.

But first, she had to pay off her debts. Turning to Iris, she bowed to her respectfully, slightly confusing Iris.

"W-what are you doing?!" she stuttered.

"Thank you," Kris said firmly. "Thanks for all the knowledge you gave me, for all the tutoring and probably saving my life back in Blackthorn. If there's anything I can do-"

"Yeah, take me with you!" Iris said immediately. "And sheesh, why so formal? We're friends, right?"

"Friends..." Kris smiled. "Yeah, of course we are!"

"Then I'm going to Hoenn as well!" Iris said. "And not just because of you," she added when Kris was about to point it out. "The whole reason I'm here instead of back home was to learn! I think I've seen pretty much everything Johto has to offer, so now it's Hoenn's turn. And I have to... well, I'll tell you on the way."

Kris thought this would piss her off. She thought for sure that she would automatically refuse her and regret it later, maybe say something stupid to hurt Iris' feelings. But instead, Kris accepted the offer with a smile on her face. As the duo walked out of the tunnel and into the sunlight-covered outdoors, Kris thought back on her journey so far. She had started out alone, with only a vague dream of competing in the Silver Conference. Not only had she achieved that dream, but she had gained something far more valuable as well. And now she had to find ways to thank all of them for this, and Kris did mean all of them: Iris, professor Elm, Blaine, Leaf, Eusine, Morty, Lance, Kurt, the Kimono Girls, Silver, Wes, even Missile and...

Walking towards Elm and Blaine, Iris tugged Kris' sleeve and turned her attention to something. Lyra had quietly left the company of others and was embarking on her Braviary. Briefly, Kris' eyes met Lyra's, and the two acknowledged each other with a brief nod before Kris turned away.

 _Yeah. All of them_.

First thing tomorrow morning, Kris would start finding a way to get to the Hoenn region. But right now, the thing Kris yearned to do the most was to have the longest, hottest f***ing bath in the whole damn world.

/ TO BE CONTINUED /


End file.
